March 25, 2013
Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre

Abstract:

This policy brief examines the steps needed to improve women’s participation in peacekeeping, highlights the problem inherent in commonly cited arguments for increasing women peacekeepers and proposes key recommendations.

In recent years some UN member states have attempted to increase the number of women in peacekeeping operations (PKOs) (including introducing all-female units) as part of an effort to mainstream gender in UN institutions, but also to challenge and transform the predominantly masculine PKO culture. However, these efforts are largely isolated and ad hoc. While all these efforts aim at increasing the number of women participants in PKOs, achieving gender balance does not automatically translate into gender equality or gender mainstreaming.

To increase the meaningful participation of women in PKOs, women need to be integrated into senior, decision-making and leadership posts; all-female contingents should be trained and deployed in, and integrated into mixed-gender environments; and deploy women who are ready to substantively change the PKO environment. Numerical targets, women’s “feminine qualities” and quick fixes for addressing sexual violence in PKOs aside, policymakers should deploy women to assist in gender mainstreaming in PKOs and in changing local women’s lives....

March 22, 2013
NATO Civil-Military Fusion Centre

Abstract:

This document provides an overview of the origins and current challenges of displacement flows by refugees and IDPs in Afghanistan. Furthermore, it presents, based on an open-source research, the potential flows that could occur in Afghanistan post 2014. Related information is available at www.cimicweb.org. Hyperlinks to source material are highlighted in blue and underlined in the text.

March 21, 2013
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Abstract:

Statistical overview of asylum applications lodged in Europe and selected non-European countries.

March 21, 2013
Feinstein International Center // Assessment Capacities Project

Abstract:

This paper reports the results of a study undertaken during 2012 by Tufts University for the Assessment Capacities Project (ACAPS), as part of the latter’s “Operational Learning” strand of work. This study is designed to complement the work of ACAPS on strengthening needs assessment by addressing the question of how assessments and other sources of information and analysis are used by humanitarian decision makers. The study is based on a combination of literature review, case studies, and key informant interviews.

The pressure to demonstrate that responses and claims about impact are grounded in evidence has been growing over recent years. Humanitarian donors are increasingly under similar pressures to demonstrate effectiveness and account for impact. This is partly a matter of showing that their decisions regarding policies and programs are well-founded and evidence-based. But, humanitarian contexts are almost by definition ‘‘non-ideal” for gathering data. Decisions often have to be made quickly, sometimes with relatively little access to current information or accurate data. The question about informed decision making may therefore come down to what constitutes a “well enough” informed decision in the circumstances; or what constitutes “good enough” information and analysis on which to base a response. Whatever the quality of information, no assumption can be made that the increased availability of good information and analysis will in itself result in better informed decisions. In reviewing the way decisions are made in practice, the study considers the ways in which such information is used (or not) at different points in the process, which varies across different kinds of decisions in different contexts.

The study is based around three main questions. First, how do decision makers in the humanitarian sector currently use information and analysis? Second, what factors, other than information and analysis, are influential in making decisions? Third, what would enable better-informed response decisions? In order to address these overarching questions, the study looks first at some of the main processes of decision-making in the humanitarian sector and the factors that appear to have most influence on decisions of different kinds. It goes on to look at the way information and analysis is currently generated in the humanitarian sector—both through formal and informal means—and related questions of relevance and credibility. These two topics are then brought together in addressing the question of the use of information by decision makers, and what might enable more informed and evidence-based response decisions....

March 20, 2013
International Organization for Migration

Abstract:

The International Dialogue on Migration 2012 aims to enhance synergies between humanitarian and migration perspectives in the search for appropriate responses to migration crises. The second workshop in the series focuses on the plight of migrants who are caught up in crises in their countries of transit or destination. When countries of destination or transit experience political turmoil, conflict or natural disasters, their migrant populations often have few means to escape and ensure their own safety. Risks and vulnerabilities are exacerbated when migrants are in an irregular situation, or when countries of origin lack the resources, capacity and access to protect and assist their nationals abroad. Some migrants may be unable or unwilling to leave the crisis zone, while others may be forced to cross borders into neighbouring countries. As a result, repercussions may be felt regionally and beyond. Ultimately, migrants may escape crises by returning or being evacuated to their countries of origin, but challenges do not end there: countries of origin may struggle to receive and reintegrate large numbers of returnees, while the sudden loss of remittances may leave their families and home communities without income. The departure of migrant workers may also leave gaps in the labour markets of countries of destination which may in fact depend on migrant labour for post-crisis recovery and reconstruction.

The overall objective of the workshop is to support States in devising a framework of policies and actions to address the situation of migrants in crisis situations. Consistent with IOM's mandate and Strategy Document (activity 7), the IDM provides a forum for IOM Member and Observer States, as well as international and non-governmental organizations and other partners, to share experiences and perspectives on migration matters with a view to identifying practical solutions and fostering greater cooperation....

March 25, 2013
Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre

Abstract:

This policy brief examines the steps needed to improve women’s participation in peacekeeping, highlights the problem inherent in commonly cited arguments for increasing women peacekeepers and proposes key recommendations.

In recent years some UN member states have attempted to increase the number of women in peacekeeping operations (PKOs) (including introducing all-female units) as part of an effort to mainstream gender in UN institutions, but also to challenge and transform the predominantly masculine PKO culture. However, these efforts are largely isolated and ad hoc. While all these efforts aim at increasing the number of women participants in PKOs, achieving gender balance does not automatically translate into gender equality or gender mainstreaming.

To increase the meaningful participation of women in PKOs, women need to be integrated into senior, decision-making and leadership posts; all-female contingents should be trained and deployed in, and integrated into mixed-gender environments; and deploy women who are ready to substantively change the PKO environment. Numerical targets, women’s “feminine qualities” and quick fixes for addressing sexual violence in PKOs aside, policymakers should deploy women to assist in gender mainstreaming in PKOs and in changing local women’s lives....

March 25, 2013
Brookings Institution

Abstract:

On March 25, the Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence at Brookings hosted General John Allen, former commander of the International Security Assistance Force, for a discussion of the U.S. and NATO mission in Afghanistan.

General Allen led forces in Afghanistan for 19 months, from mid-2011 through February 2013. Prior to that, Allen was deputy commander of the U.S. Central Command from June 2008 through mid-2011. Brookings Senior Fellow Michael O'Hanlon, just back from his most recent research trip to Afghanistan, joined General Allen in a discussion on the mission as it progressed during his time in command through the current period....

March 22, 2013
NATO Civil-Military Fusion Centre

Abstract:

This document provides an overview of the origins and current challenges of displacement flows by refugees and IDPs in Afghanistan. Furthermore, it presents, based on an open-source research, the potential flows that could occur in Afghanistan post 2014. Related information is available at www.cimicweb.org. Hyperlinks to source material are highlighted in blue and underlined in the text.

March 21, 2013
Strategic Studies Institute

Abstract:

The premise of most Western thinking on counterinsurgency is that success depends on establishing a perception of legitimacy among local populations. The path to legitimacy is often seen as the improvement of governance in the form of effective and efficient administration of government and public services. However, good governance is not the only possible basis for claims to legitimacy. The author considers whether, in insurgencies where ethno-religious identities are salient, claims to legitimacy may rest more on the identity of who governs, rather than on how whoever governs governs. This monograph presents an analytic framework for examining these issues and then applies that framework to two detailed local case studies of American counterinsurgency operations in Iraq: Ramadi from 2004-05; and Tal Afar from 2005-06. These case studies are based on primary research, including dozens of interviews with participants and eyewitnesses. The cases yield ample evidence that ethno-religious identity politics do shape counterinsurgency outcomes in important ways, and also offer qualified support for the argument that addressing identity politics may be more critical than good governance to counterinsurgent success. Key policy implications include the importance of making strategy development as sensitive as possible to the dynamics of identity politics, and to local variations and complexity in causal relationships among popular loyalties, grievances, and political violence....

March 21, 2013
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Abstract:

Statistical overview of asylum applications lodged in Europe and selected non-European countries.

March 19, 2013
Plan International

Abstract:

The first 8 years of a child’s life are the most critical in terms of development. Research has shown that under-nutrition, stressful conditions and poor stimulation during these years can affect brain structure and function. Between 2002 and 2006, 1.5 billion children in 42 countries were affected by crises. They may have survived the immediate disaster, but without interventions specifically aimed at their developmental needs, many may suffer the adverse effects for the rest of their lives. This report explains how – when disasters strike – Plan is working to save not just children’s lives, but their futures too. It shows the different impacts that disasters and emergencies can have on young children, and how Plan’s early childhood care and development (ECCD) in emergencies work is helping to limit those impacts....

March 13, 2013
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Abstract:

UNHCR aims to be a fully age, gender and diversity inclusive organisation within the next four years. Yet the 2011 global analysis of UNHCR’s accountability frameworks for Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) revealed that only 14% of its managers worldwide reported full achievement of targeted actions for adolescents. This stands as one of the top four gaps in implementing the AGD policy.

This review explores UNHCR’s engagement with displaced youth, refugees and IDPs, by analysing the agency’s mandate in relation to youth through its policies, guidelines and strategies, institutional infrastructure, approaches to identifying and responding to the needs of displaced youth, current funding, programmes and monitoring and evaluation processes. As general guidance this review uses the UN definition of youth, that is, the age group of 15-24 years; yet it recognises ‘youth’ as a social construct reflecting local understandings.

As age-disaggregated data is not currently collected for young people in the age group of 15-24 years, this report draws heavily on primary data collected as part of this review. The methodology includes a survey of selected UNHCR staff, interviews with field-based staff and implementing partners, and focus group discussions with youth in different displacement settings giving fascinating insight into current views, perceptions, programmes and operations from UNHCR itself as well as young displaced people....

March 13, 2013
Save the Children

Abstract:

In a new report, "Childhood Under Fire," launched to mark two years of violence in Syria, Save the Children details the impact of the conflict on children, showing that many are struggling to find enough to eat; are living in barns, parks and caves; are unable to go to school with teachers having fled and schools being attacked; and that damage to sanitation systems is forcing some children to defecate in the street.

Citing new research carried out amongst refugee children by Bahcesehir University in Turkey, the report also reveals the extent to which children have been directly targeted in the war, with one in three children reporting having been hit, kicked or shot at.

Combined with the breakdown of society in parts of the country and more than three million people displaced, the conflict has led to the collapse of childhood for millions of youngsters.

"Childhood under Fire" details how some young boys are being used by armed groups as porters, runners and human shields, bringing them close to the frontline, while some girls are being married off early to 'protect' them from a widely-perceived threat of sexual violence....

March 12, 2013
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

Abstract:

As the crisis in Syria enters its third tragic year, and the daily headlines focus on military clashes and political efforts to resolve the crisis, the world must not forget the human realities at stake. The risk of losing a generation grows with every day that the situation deteriorates, while the progress made for Syrian children in previous years is undone.

All around them, their dreams and opportunities for the future are being lost. And as they lose their childhoods . . . as their right to be children is denied . . . their views of their neighbours are coloured in ways that can create future generations of self-perpetuating violence. With all that implies for the region as a whole.

Children face tremendous dangers on a daily basis. They are being killed, maimed and orphaned by conflict. Health clinics that have not been damaged or destroyed struggle to deliver life-saving services. Clean water and adequate sanitation – the most fundamental of daily necessities – are increasingly scarce. Many schools have been damaged, destroyed or taken over by displaced people seeking shelter. Countless children suffer from the psychological trauma of seeing family members killed, of being separated from their parents and being terrified by the constant thunder of shelling. Girls and women are further vulnerable to violence.

Many have fled their country to live in refugee camps in neighbouring countries. And if all this were not enough, they are enduring a bitterly cold winter.

UNICEF and its partners are committed to keeping Syria’s children from becoming a ‘lost generation’. This report highlights some of the critical efforts made to minimize the impact of the crisis on children - including in life-saving areas of health, nutrition, immunization, water and sanitation, as well as investments in the future of children through education and child protection....

March 8, 2013
Chatham House

Abstract:

- While right-wing extremism and populist extremist parties have been the subject of growing attention in Europe and North America, the emergence of ‘counter- Jihad’ groups has been relatively neglected. Campaigning amid fiscal austerity and ongoing public concerns over immigration, these groups are more confrontational, chaotic and unpredictable than established populist extremist political parties, yet not enough is known about who supports them – and why.

- Widely held assumptions about their supporters – which often stress economic austerity, political protest and Islamophobia as the key drivers – are challenged by new survey data on public attitudes towards the ideas of one leading counter- Jihad group, the English Defence League.

- The data indicate that supporters of such groups are not necessarily young, uneducated, economically insecure or politically apathetic. They are not simply anti-Muslim or overtly racist, but xenophobic and profoundly hostile towards immigration. They are more likely than others in society to expect inter-communal conflict and to believe that violence is justifiable. And their beliefs about the threatening nature of Islam have wider public support.

- Few mainstream voices in Europe are actively challenging counter-Jihad narratives, or the surrounding reservoir of anti-Muslim prejudice among the general public, but this is an essential part of any successful counter-strategy....

March 6, 2013
United States Institute of Peace

Abstract:

Natural disasters and extreme environmental events are expected to increase in number and severity on a global scale, elevating levels of economic, social, and political stress that could provoke both civil and international conflicts. Population growth, urbanization, economic fragility, and climate change are major factors in an interactive pattern of growing global vulnerabilities, compounded by widespread political inaction to address them.

Enlarged urban and coastal populations in strategically important locations are at heightened risk of massive casualties, political strife, and increased regional tensions from major earthquakes, floods, and disease.

Large natural disasters could also degrade key dimensions of the global economy—food, water, energy, medicine, supply chains, livelihoods—arousing widespread popular anxieties that could provoke preemptive protective measures.

Intelligence agencies, think tanks, and academic specialists should increase their focus on the potential for major disasters in various parts of the world to cause economic, social, and political “ripple effects” that lead to deadly conflicts.

Reducing the direct harm of such disasters will require initiatives in three areas: increasing local resilience, improving relief capabilities, and, where unavoidable, facilitating relocation from the most vulnerable areas.

Avoiding adverse secondary consequences to political stability and human security will require both national and international collaboration to elevate the priority of preventing violent conflicts that could arise from these “natural assaults...

March 4, 2013
International Food Policy Research Institute

Abstract:

Climate change leads to more frequent and more intense droughts in Somalia. In a global context, weather shocks have been found to perpetuate poverty and fuel civil conflict. By relating regional and temporal variations in violent conflict outbreaks with drought incidence and severity, we show that this causality is valid also for Somalia at the local level. We find that livestock price shocks drive drought-induced conflicts through reducing the opportunity costs of conflict participation. Our estimation results indicate that a temperature rise of around 3.2 degrees Celsius—corresponding to the median Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scenario for eastern Africa by the end of the century—would lower cattle prices by about 4 percent and, in turn, increase the incidence of violent conflict by about 58 percent. Hence climate change will further aggravate Somalia’s security challenges and calls for decisive action to strengthen both drought and conflict resilience, especially in pastoralist and agropastoralist livelihoods....

February 6, 2013
Overseas Development Institute

Abstract:

From 2005-2009, more than 50% of people affected by ‘natural’ disasters lived in fragile and conflict-affected states. Recently, a number of high profile disasters in fragile and conflict-affected states have increased attention on the concurrence of disasters and conflict, and there is an expectation that disasters and conflict will coincide more in the future.

This report focuses on the links between conditions of vulnerability and risks associated with the nexus of natural disasters, conflict and fragility. It also recognises that any given context will be mired by an even more complex array of intersecting risks. For example, in 2011, drought, and food and political insecurity in East Africa contributed to a full-scale humanitarian crisis. A combination of natural hazards, conflict and fragility provided a recipe for human suffering.

The evidence base for the ‘natural’ disasters-conflict interface is challenging: it is fragmented and contested, with a number of studies highlighting directly opposing lines of arguments. This suggests that the complexity of conflict and disaster dynamics can only be understood when grounded in specific contexts. Examples are therefore provided in the report from disaster risk reduction in Afghanistan, resilience building in the Sahel region, community based risk reduction in Karamoja and national risk reduction in Nepal....

January 18, 2013
Wilson Center

Abstract:

Today's population of 7 billion people has a significant impact on the planet's natural resources and on global security. Seven critical challenges - security, climate change, water security, food insecurity, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and future population growth - are affected by population dynamics in complex ways that demand holistic solutions. One effective and relatively inexpensive way to meet these challenges is to empower women by improving their access to education and health care, including family planning....

October 12, 2012
Université de Liège // Centre d'Etude de l'Ethnicité et des Migrations

Abstract:

The aim of the presented paper is to demonstrate environmentally-induced displacement as an increasingly important category of population movement that represents a new set of challenges to the international community and to public international law as well1. There are three basic objectives that this work intends to achieve: 1) to argue in favour of distinguishing environmentally-induced displacement from the broader category of migratory movements and thereby making it a fully autonomous concept within the existing taxonomies, 2) to illustrate the diversity and inconsistency of environmentally displaced people (EDPs) theoretical concept, 3) to provide references to earlier theoretical achievements in this particular field of study. For these purposes, the paper tries to capture both the phenomenon of environmental displacement itself, and the problems of people affected by its consequences. Apart from theoretical considerations, it also examines which main factors force people to abandon their homes. Both long-term environmental hazards and short-lived natural disasters are investigated here, and it is shown how they entail significant implications for the dynamics of population mobility.

The social consequences of the environmental processes under scrutiny are one of the greatest challenges the international community will face in the coming years. Today, the effects of long-standing environmental changes seem obvious to many citizens of our planet. Desertification, increasing soil salinity, wasteful deforestation, and rising sea levels are just a few of the issues discussed below which influence everyday life for at least two hundred million people worldwide....

March 22, 2013
Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre

Abstract:

Preventive diplomacy and conflict prevention are intended to stop armed conflicts before they escalate. Conflict prevention is a broader concept referring to the monitoring, containment, and reduction of risk factors that shape war onset, intensification, and spread. Both constructs were conceived in the latter half of the 20th century, which was characterised by a sizeable array of international or interstate wars. There has since been a growth in capacities to anticipate and prevent conflicts before they erupt. This report considers historical trends, emerging opportunities, and recurrent challenges associated with preventive diplomacy and conflict prevention. Recommendations for future conflict prevention activities include sharing but not aligning conflict analyses, aligning conflict analyses with local understandings and terminology, researching drivers of peace separately from drivers of violence, studying the micro-determinants of success in preventive action, beginning a dialogue on the co-ordination of preventive action, and ensuring sufficient and flexible financing for preventive action....

March 19, 2013
Georgetown University School of Foreign Service // Institute for the Study of Diplomacy

Abstract:

From Wikileaks to the aftermath of the Arab Spring, policymakers have been confronted with the thorny ramifications of ubiquitous global information flows. Two key phenomena have emerged as the new hallmarks of international relations: heightened transparency and increased volatility. They require a refocusing of the lens through which we view international affairs, and present both challenges and opportunities for state and non-state actors. These themes and more are explored in a new collection of essays, Diplomacy, Development and Security in the Information Age, edited by Shanthi Kalathil. Featuring contributions on issues ranging from cybersecurity to diplomacy and fragile states, the book points toward a foreign policy strategy of resilience, credibility and adaptability for harnessing opportunities in the information age....

March 19, 2013
United States Institute of Peace

Abstract:

The bulk of the European Union’s peacebuilding capacity resides within the European External Action Service or EEAS, a diplomatic corps led by High Representative Catherine Ashton. The EEAS and relevant U.S. civilian agencies face similar challenges and opportunities in their effort to operationalize conflict prevention. Several European leaders and members of the European Parliament propose the creation of a European Institute of Peace (EIP) as an innovative and cost-effective approach to enhance Europe’s peacebuilding capacity. This European version of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) could practice more flexible diplomatic initiatives by engaging as an independent facilitator or participant in Track 1.5 dialogues, and serve as a knowledge center for training, best practices, and conflict analysis. Considering the financial and political climate in Brussels, a EIP is unlikely to materialize in the next two years. Once the economic storm has passed, the creation of an EIP variant appears very likely....

March 19, 2013
Conciliation Resources // Accord

Abstract:

Global policy highlights the importance of women’s participation in peace processes and peacebuilding. Yet the impact of international commitments is not felt on the ground. Most peace agreements do not address the specific concerns of women. And women are still excluded from political processes.

This first Accord Insight presents nine articles drawn from previous editions of Accord that examine the roles women have played in addressing violence and building peace. The case studies cover a period from 1998 to 2010 and contexts as far apart as Bougainville and Sierra Leone, Aceh and Northern Ireland. They document women’s first hand peacebuilding practice: the challenges they faced, the opportunities they created and the lessons they have drawn from their experiences.

The articles depict women in different contexts taking varying approaches to peacebuilding. They demonstrate women peace activists’ resilience and innovation to influence those set on violence, to mediate and promote reconciliation, and women’s capacity to mobilise and organise for peace despite exclusion from official negotiations....

March 13, 2013
The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence

Abstract:

With commentators and analyst offering descriptions ranging from populist street movement to racial-nationalists and fascists, it is clear that a great deal of uncertainty remains regarding the true nature of the English Defence League (EDL) and its European affiliates. The rise of this self-described “Counter-Jihad” movement in Europe, which seeks to combat the perceived threat of “Islamisation” through Europe-wide protests and awareness and advocacy campaigns, has added a new and complex element to the study of the far-right in Europe.

The last year has also seen a spread of the defence league concept to the continent, and Scandinavia in particular, where Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and Finnish defence leagues have emerged. As the original root of this new, strident Counter-Jihad movement in Europe, it is important to understand the history and origins of the EDL. This is comprehensively dealt with in the first section of the report.

Drawing on field-work in Europe and interviews with senior European defence league members, the first section also looks at how the movement has spread and how relationships have developed between the different defence leagues. For ease of reference, the authors have labelled this Europe-wide movement the European Counter-Jihad Movement (ECJM).

The second section of the report is devoted to evaluating a number of the different categories into which analysts have hitherto placed the ECJM, and arguing for the use of a previously ignored categorisation: cultural nationalism. This section will also explain how and why the ECJM can justifiably be referred to as “far-right”, even as it claims to fight for liberal enlightenment values and many of its core concerns overlap with those of mainstream political parties.

The third and fourth sections of the report look at how the movement is driven by a set of beliefs concerning a threat posed by the presence of the Islamic faith in European countries. Despite their irrationality, these beliefs have begun to coalesce into an identifiable “Islamisation ideology”, which holds that the current terrorist threat from extremist Islamists is not a modern political phenomenon but merely the latest manifestation of a centuries-long and ongoing effort by Muslims to conquer Western civilisation. Understanding this new ideology and its power to mobilise is especially urgent in the wake of Anders Behring Breivik’s August 2012 conviction in Norway for terrorism and premeditated murder, which found that his crimes were motivated by this very ideology and not brought on by mental illness. This report will therefore provide an in-depth analysis of the Islamisation ideology, its history and how Europeans have been mobilised in its cause....

March 19, 2013
Georgetown University School of Foreign Service // Institute for the Study of Diplomacy

Abstract:

From Wikileaks to the aftermath of the Arab Spring, policymakers have been confronted with the thorny ramifications of ubiquitous global information flows. Two key phenomena have emerged as the new hallmarks of international relations: heightened transparency and increased volatility. They require a refocusing of the lens through which we view international affairs, and present both challenges and opportunities for state and non-state actors. These themes and more are explored in a new collection of essays, Diplomacy, Development and Security in the Information Age, edited by Shanthi Kalathil. Featuring contributions on issues ranging from cybersecurity to diplomacy and fragile states, the book points toward a foreign policy strategy of resilience, credibility and adaptability for harnessing opportunities in the information age....

March 19, 2013
United States Institute of Peace

Abstract:

The bulk of the European Union’s peacebuilding capacity resides within the European External Action Service or EEAS, a diplomatic corps led by High Representative Catherine Ashton. The EEAS and relevant U.S. civilian agencies face similar challenges and opportunities in their effort to operationalize conflict prevention. Several European leaders and members of the European Parliament propose the creation of a European Institute of Peace (EIP) as an innovative and cost-effective approach to enhance Europe’s peacebuilding capacity. This European version of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) could practice more flexible diplomatic initiatives by engaging as an independent facilitator or participant in Track 1.5 dialogues, and serve as a knowledge center for training, best practices, and conflict analysis. Considering the financial and political climate in Brussels, a EIP is unlikely to materialize in the next two years. Once the economic storm has passed, the creation of an EIP variant appears very likely....

March 19, 2013
Conciliation Resources // Accord

Abstract:

Global policy highlights the importance of women’s participation in peace processes and peacebuilding. Yet the impact of international commitments is not felt on the ground. Most peace agreements do not address the specific concerns of women. And women are still excluded from political processes.

This first Accord Insight presents nine articles drawn from previous editions of Accord that examine the roles women have played in addressing violence and building peace. The case studies cover a period from 1998 to 2010 and contexts as far apart as Bougainville and Sierra Leone, Aceh and Northern Ireland. They document women’s first hand peacebuilding practice: the challenges they faced, the opportunities they created and the lessons they have drawn from their experiences.

The articles depict women in different contexts taking varying approaches to peacebuilding. They demonstrate women peace activists’ resilience and innovation to influence those set on violence, to mediate and promote reconciliation, and women’s capacity to mobilise and organise for peace despite exclusion from official negotiations....

March 18, 2013
Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB)

Abstract:

The withdrawal of international troops seems to have set in motion the beginning of a stampede whose consequences will only be known over time. Limiting the damage of what looks like a widespread and comprehensive withdrawal at all levels from governments, companies or individuals will be crucial for the stability of Afghanistan.

There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the withdrawal provided that the necessary assets, funding and support are put in place to fill the vacuum left by the international forces. Should this not be guaranteed, the current fears of growing insecurity could become a reality triggering or exacerbating some of the current negative trends.

The gradual decline of aid, if properly managed is not intrinsically bad. As the World Bank points out “less aid with more effective aid delivery could, in the end, lead to more positive outcomes”.

The resurgence of the Taleban insurgency in 2006 started to reverse the prevailing trust and optimism of the business community. This trend has been exacerbated since the announcement of the withdrawal calendar in 2009.

The burden of, and the capacity for, changing reality on the ground for investors remains largely in the hands of the Afghan government through the implementation of the necessary reforms and actions that would guarantee a reasonable level of hard and economic security.

Both, the transition and post transition periods pose a series of great challenges. However none are really new to the country, just the means to tackle them and the division of labour....

March 18, 2013
Chatham House

Abstract:

This is a transcript of an event held at Chatham House on 12 March 2013. The panel discussed the international community's role in supporting Afghanistan after the 2014 withdrawal of international troops, including strategies for building up local security, the possibility of reconciliation with the Taliban, and how to address ongoing humanitarian needs in the country. Speakers included: Dr Robert Johnson, Jawed Nader, Matt Waldman.

March 22, 2013
Amnesty International

Abstract:

Human rights are under severe threat in the North Caucasus, a region in the Russian Federation comprising six republics – Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachaevo-Cherkessia and North Ossetia – as well as Stavropol Krai (Region)1. The day-to-day lives of many people in the North Caucasus, as well as the wider political, economic and social context in this region of the Russian Federation, are very much defined by the threat which armed groups pose to security and the response from the Russian authorities. With regularly reported attacks against law enforcement officials, members of local administrations, prominent figures and members of the general public, the Russian authorities are faced with the need, and in fact have an obligation, to ensure that the local population can enjoy security. However, any efforts to combat the threat posed by armed groups, and in particular to identify and bring to justice those responsible for any alleged crimes, must observe the rule of law and fully respect human rights.

For years, Amnesty International has been receiving regular reports of human rights violations in the North Caucasus committed by members of law enforcement agencies in the context of the fight against armed groups. The organization has researched and documented numerous cases of human rights violations in the region, which include torture and other ill-treatment, as well as enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions.2 Such violations are frequently characterised also by the lack of adequate response on the part of the Russian authorities. More often than not in such cases, the alleged violations are not investigated promptly, thoroughly, effectively, independently and impartially as required by international law.3 Other institutions too, have expressed concerns about the authorities’ failure to investigate and the problem of impunity in the region. In relation to the cases of a number of “human rights activists, lawyers and journalists”, the PACE expressed “its bewilderment and anguish at the fact that to date none of these cases has been elucidated by the investigating system” and insisted that the authorities “bring to trial in accordance with the law all culprits of human rights violations, including members of the security forces, and to clear up the many crimes which have gone unpunished”.4...

March 21, 2013
Strategic Studies Institute

Abstract:

The premise of most Western thinking on counterinsurgency is that success depends on establishing a perception of legitimacy among local populations. The path to legitimacy is often seen as the improvement of governance in the form of effective and efficient administration of government and public services. However, good governance is not the only possible basis for claims to legitimacy. The author considers whether, in insurgencies where ethno-religious identities are salient, claims to legitimacy may rest more on the identity of who governs, rather than on how whoever governs governs. This monograph presents an analytic framework for examining these issues and then applies that framework to two detailed local case studies of American counterinsurgency operations in Iraq: Ramadi from 2004-05; and Tal Afar from 2005-06. These case studies are based on primary research, including dozens of interviews with participants and eyewitnesses. The cases yield ample evidence that ethno-religious identity politics do shape counterinsurgency outcomes in important ways, and also offer qualified support for the argument that addressing identity politics may be more critical than good governance to counterinsurgent success. Key policy implications include the importance of making strategy development as sensitive as possible to the dynamics of identity politics, and to local variations and complexity in causal relationships among popular loyalties, grievances, and political violence....

March 21, 2013
Institute for Security Studies

Abstract:

While the planning process for the deployment of the African-led international support mission to Mali (AFISMA) was laboriously under way, events followed in rapid succession when the armed groups occupying the northern part of the country seized the town of Konna on 10 January 2013. This offensive triggered the French military `Operation Serval` and the arrival of AFISMA troops, including in Bamako, in support to the Malian army. In light of the new situation introduced by the military intervention, this report aims at analyzing the changing political and security dynamics while assessing the prospects for the management of the profound crisis of governance that contributed to taking Mali to the edge of the abyss....

March 21, 2013
Institute for Security Studies

Abstract:

Western governments focus heavily on the presence of Islamist extremists in the Sahel and have provided technical assistance in an attempt to strengthen the capacity of the security sectors and justice systems in the countries of the region to hold them back. But the preoccupation with West Africa’s war on terror has meant that the destabilising impact of organised crime has been consistently underestimated, if not ignored altogether. As rebuilding begins in Mali, all signs point to the same oversight happening again. Organised crime is not the primary driver of the current conflict in Mali, but any effort to stabilise or resolve this conflict should explicitly take the presence of organised crime, illicit resource flows and criminal networks into account....

March 19, 2013
International Crisis Group

Abstract:

After years of intense, cartel-related bloodshed that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and shaken Mexico, new President Enrique Peña Nieto is promising to reduce the murder rate. The security plan he introduced with the backing of the three biggest parties gives Mexico a window of opportunity to build institutions that can produce long-term peace and cut impunity rates. But he faces many challenges. The cartels have thousands of gunmen and have morphed into diversified crime groups that not only traffic drugs, but also conduct mass kidnappings, oversee extortion rackets and steal from the state oil industry. The military still fights them in much of the country on controversial missions too often ending in shooting rather than prosecutions. If Peña Nieto does not build an effective police and justice system, the violence may continue or worsen. But major institutional improvements and more efficient, comprehensive social programs could mean real hope for sustainable peace and justice.

The development of cartels into murder squads fighting to control territory with military-grade weapons challenges the Mexican state’s monopoly on the use of force in some regions. The brutality of their crimes undermines civilian trust in the government’s capacity to protect them, and the corruption of drug money damages belief in key institutions. Cartels challenge the fundamental nature of the state, therefore, not by threatening to capture it, but by damaging and weakening it. The military fight-back has at times only further eroded the trust in government by inflicting serious human rights abuses. Some frustrated communities have formed armed “self-defence” groups against the cartels. Whatever the intent, these also degrade the rule of law....

March 25, 2013
Chatham House

Abstract:

This is a summary of an event held at Chatham House on 4 March 2013. The speakers discussed the humanitarian situation in Burma, arguing that improvements in human rights have not kept pace with the country's momentum towards political and economic reform.

March 25, 2013
UN Water

Abstract:

The new publication proposes a working definition of water security developed from contributions made by the broad range of organizations, agencies, programmes and institutions that form UN-Water. It is intended to serve as a starting point for dialogue on water security in the UN system. The Brief, produced by UN-Water Task Force on Water Security, aims to capture the dynamic and constantly evolving dimensions of water and water-related issues, and offers a holistic outlook for addressing water challenges through the umbrella of water security....

March 22, 2013
NATO Civil-Military Fusion Centre

Abstract:

This document provides an overview of the origins and current challenges of displacement flows by refugees and IDPs in Afghanistan. Furthermore, it presents, based on an open-source research, the potential flows that could occur in Afghanistan post 2014. Related information is available at www.cimicweb.org. Hyperlinks to source material are highlighted in blue and underlined in the text.

March 21, 2013
Feinstein International Center // Assessment Capacities Project

Abstract:

This paper reports the results of a study undertaken during 2012 by Tufts University for the Assessment Capacities Project (ACAPS), as part of the latter’s “Operational Learning” strand of work. This study is designed to complement the work of ACAPS on strengthening needs assessment by addressing the question of how assessments and other sources of information and analysis are used by humanitarian decision makers. The study is based on a combination of literature review, case studies, and key informant interviews.

The pressure to demonstrate that responses and claims about impact are grounded in evidence has been growing over recent years. Humanitarian donors are increasingly under similar pressures to demonstrate effectiveness and account for impact. This is partly a matter of showing that their decisions regarding policies and programs are well-founded and evidence-based. But, humanitarian contexts are almost by definition ‘‘non-ideal” for gathering data. Decisions often have to be made quickly, sometimes with relatively little access to current information or accurate data. The question about informed decision making may therefore come down to what constitutes a “well enough” informed decision in the circumstances; or what constitutes “good enough” information and analysis on which to base a response. Whatever the quality of information, no assumption can be made that the increased availability of good information and analysis will in itself result in better informed decisions. In reviewing the way decisions are made in practice, the study considers the ways in which such information is used (or not) at different points in the process, which varies across different kinds of decisions in different contexts.

The study is based around three main questions. First, how do decision makers in the humanitarian sector currently use information and analysis? Second, what factors, other than information and analysis, are influential in making decisions? Third, what would enable better-informed response decisions? In order to address these overarching questions, the study looks first at some of the main processes of decision-making in the humanitarian sector and the factors that appear to have most influence on decisions of different kinds. It goes on to look at the way information and analysis is currently generated in the humanitarian sector—both through formal and informal means—and related questions of relevance and credibility. These two topics are then brought together in addressing the question of the use of information by decision makers, and what might enable more informed and evidence-based response decisions....

March 20, 2013
Chatham House

Abstract:

This is a transcript of a speech made by Sir John Holmes, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator (2007-10), on 14 March 2013 at Chatham House. Sir John Holmes argue that despite the best efforts of humanitarian organizations, the provision of aid to the world's most vulnerable groups is not immune from political interference. He discussed the problems of dealing with the governments of both donor and recipient countries, drawing on his experiences in Sudan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Burma.

March 19, 2013
Plan International

Abstract:

The first 8 years of a child’s life are the most critical in terms of development. Research has shown that under-nutrition, stressful conditions and poor stimulation during these years can affect brain structure and function. Between 2002 and 2006, 1.5 billion children in 42 countries were affected by crises. They may have survived the immediate disaster, but without interventions specifically aimed at their developmental needs, many may suffer the adverse effects for the rest of their lives. This report explains how – when disasters strike – Plan is working to save not just children’s lives, but their futures too. It shows the different impacts that disasters and emergencies can have on young children, and how Plan’s early childhood care and development (ECCD) in emergencies work is helping to limit those impacts....

March 12, 2013
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

Abstract:

As the crisis in Syria enters its third tragic year, and the daily headlines focus on military clashes and political efforts to resolve the crisis, the world must not forget the human realities at stake. The risk of losing a generation grows with every day that the situation deteriorates, while the progress made for Syrian children in previous years is undone.

All around them, their dreams and opportunities for the future are being lost. And as they lose their childhoods . . . as their right to be children is denied . . . their views of their neighbours are coloured in ways that can create future generations of self-perpetuating violence. With all that implies for the region as a whole.

Children face tremendous dangers on a daily basis. They are being killed, maimed and orphaned by conflict. Health clinics that have not been damaged or destroyed struggle to deliver life-saving services. Clean water and adequate sanitation – the most fundamental of daily necessities – are increasingly scarce. Many schools have been damaged, destroyed or taken over by displaced people seeking shelter. Countless children suffer from the psychological trauma of seeing family members killed, of being separated from their parents and being terrified by the constant thunder of shelling. Girls and women are further vulnerable to violence.

Many have fled their country to live in refugee camps in neighbouring countries. And if all this were not enough, they are enduring a bitterly cold winter.

UNICEF and its partners are committed to keeping Syria’s children from becoming a ‘lost generation’. This report highlights some of the critical efforts made to minimize the impact of the crisis on children - including in life-saving areas of health, nutrition, immunization, water and sanitation, as well as investments in the future of children through education and child protection....

March 8, 2013
Chatham House

Abstract:

- While right-wing extremism and populist extremist parties have been the subject of growing attention in Europe and North America, the emergence of ‘counter- Jihad’ groups has been relatively neglected. Campaigning amid fiscal austerity and ongoing public concerns over immigration, these groups are more confrontational, chaotic and unpredictable than established populist extremist political parties, yet not enough is known about who supports them – and why.

- Widely held assumptions about their supporters – which often stress economic austerity, political protest and Islamophobia as the key drivers – are challenged by new survey data on public attitudes towards the ideas of one leading counter- Jihad group, the English Defence League.

- The data indicate that supporters of such groups are not necessarily young, uneducated, economically insecure or politically apathetic. They are not simply anti-Muslim or overtly racist, but xenophobic and profoundly hostile towards immigration. They are more likely than others in society to expect inter-communal conflict and to believe that violence is justifiable. And their beliefs about the threatening nature of Islam have wider public support.

- Few mainstream voices in Europe are actively challenging counter-Jihad narratives, or the surrounding reservoir of anti-Muslim prejudice among the general public, but this is an essential part of any successful counter-strategy....

March 7, 2013
Centre for International and Strategic Analysis

Abstract:

The importance of education in a society cannot be disowned. A well-established education system is an important constituent of a civilized nation and society. Its importance is well evident in developed countries as it plays a major role in personal and social development. As an alternate track to Western style of education, religious seminaries – madaaris1 and religious education have played a vital role in the history of Islam to fulfil the education needs of Islamic society. Despite the madaaris constituting an indigenous system of education in Pakistan, the madrassa sector of the country has been at the center of debates on extremism and radicalization of society since Pakistan joined the US-led war on terror after 9/11. The madaaris are perceived as a crucial medium for promoting extreme religious, sectarian, social and political views which lead towards militancy. Meanwhile it has been highlighted time and again that there is a need to reform the madaaris to transform the radical ideologies with real Islamic moderate values, and provide an applied-education mode where madaaris students become useful members of the society....

February 20, 2013
Save the Children, Australia

Abstract:

Uruzgan presents an enormously challenging operating environment for development activity. An estimated 35-45 per cent of the province remains outside government control, and anti-government attacks are reported, on average, every day. Much of the province, particularly outside of the provincial capital and the district centres, is for the most part inaccessible to non-local development staff.

Uruzgan is also one of the most under-served provinces in Afghanistan. Adult literacy is just seven per cent for men and less than one per cent for women, less than 40 per cent of children are in school, and the maternal mortality rate is one in 40. Recent years have seen some increase in access to basic services, but the reach of government services and the efforts of development actors have been – and continue to be – hampered by insecurity. Development activities have preferenced the more accessible districts, with just 40 per cent of development actors operating outside the districts considered to be secure.

But some NGOs do operate in districts where government control is tenuous, and where access is restricted. NGOs operating in these districts have adopted a range of strategies for implementing and monitoring their programs, relying to varying extents on community groups or staff and/or volunteers who are local to, and work in, the districts. But capacity at the district level is extremely low, and this mode of operating presents enormous challenges for NGOs striving to assure the quality of services delivered....

March 13, 2013
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Abstract:

Eritreans have been seeking asylum in east Sudan for more than four decades and the region now hosts more than 100,000 refugees1. East Sudan has also become a key transit region for those fleeing Eritrea. One route, from East Sudan to Egypt, the Sinai desert and Israel has gained increasing attention. According to UNHCR statistics, the number of Eritreans crossing the border from Sinai to Israel has increased from 1,348 in 2006 to 17,175 in 2011. Coupled with this dramatic growth in numbers, the conditions on this route have caused great concern. Testimonies from Eritreans have increasingly referred to kidnapping, torture and extortion at the hands of human smugglers and traffickers.

The smuggling route from Eritrea to Israel is long, complex and involves many different actors. As such, it cannot be examined in its entirety in a single paper. This analysis consequently focuses on the movement of people from Eritrea to east Sudan, and from east Sudan to Egypt. A review of testimonies from Eritrean refugees and key informant interviews provide an understanding of the situation from the available data.

The paper is structured as follows. Following brief contextual information the paper opens with an examination of motivations and aspirations to leave Eritrea based on testimonies collected by UNHCR and NGOs in Israel and Cairo. This includes an overview of the current situation in Eritrea and the importance of the Eritrean diaspora in decision making. Section two addresses the changing refugee dynamics in east Sudan and why Shagarab refugee camp has become predominantly a place of transit rather than refuge.

The following section examines the role of smugglers in east Sudan. One group of smugglers mentioned in many testimonies are from an ethnic group known as the Rashaida. In order to explain their ubiquity in testimonies this section places human smuggling in the context of wider processes of trade, underdevelopment in the region and Sudan-Eritrean relations. It argues that the actions of a small number of Rashaida involved in the process of smuggling Eritreans are one of the products, not causes, of insecurity in the region. However, this should not detract from or lessen the human rights violations taking place along the route. To conclude the challenges and possibilities for protection, assistance and security are reviewed.

This paper is not a definitive guide to the situation and some pertinent limitations should be stressed. The situation is highly complex, fluid and subject to rapid change. There is currently research being undertaken that will detail specific routes, locations and individuals involved whereas this paper will outline trends and historical developments from the available literature. It is also important to note the testimonies examined in this paper were collected from those who had reached NGOs and UNHCR offices in Egypt or Israel and had specific protection concerns.2 There is therefore a bias within the testimonies and they do not reflect the myriad journeys and experiences of those who did not reach either of these destinations....

March 7, 2013
Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre // Nordic Africa Institute // Australian Government

Abstract:

The 'Arab Spring' that greeted North Africa and resulted in the fall of the Gaddafi regime has brought in its wake consequences that transcend national boundaries. One region in Africa that is grappling with the post-Gaddafi repercussions is the Sahel, which also faces enormous challenges relating to environment, food insecurity, terrorism and Islamic radicalization, among many others. Besides the core Sahelian states, namely Mali, Niger and Mauritania, many others such as Nigeria, Algeria, Burkina Faso, chad and the Central African Republic and the Darfur region of Sudan continue to face the multiple socioeconomic and security repercussions of the "Arab Spring". Returnee migrants, Tuareg mercenaries and the flow of arms from Gaddafi's weapon caches have contributed to the deteriorating security situation in Mali and the wider Sahelian states. Against this background, the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre and the Nordic Africa Institute, Sweden, in collaboration with the Australian Government, organised a two-day Experts' Workshop on Exploring the Post-Gaddafi Repercussions in the Sahel aimed at addressing the emerging security challenges....

March 5, 2013
NATO Civil-Military Fusion Centre

Abstract:

Two years after the fall of President Hosni Mubarak, the Sinai Peninsula remains a significant security challenge for the Egyptian government. In post-revolution Egypt, Sinai became less of a priority as the government dealt with increasing economic and political turmoil throughout the rest of the country. The resulting security vacuum attracted radical elements from all over the Middle East and has increasingly become a concern for both Egypt and Israel. The complicated security environment has allowed both local Bedouin tribes and radical Islamic organisa-tions to operate with near impunity in the region and has presented a significant challenge the Egyptian govern-ment struggles to contain, according to the Carnegie Endowment.

This report summarises the politics and history of the Sinai Peninsula and the indigenous Bedouin tribes. It then gives a brief overview of the militant groups that have recently moved into the region as well as the responses by Egypt, Israel and the international community....

March 4, 2013
Human Rights Watch

Abstract:

The 107-page report documents the government’s failure to confront militant groups whose thuggish harassment and assaults on houses of worship and members of religious minorities has become increasingly aggressive. Those targeted include Ahmadiyahs, Christians, and Shia Muslims. Indonesian monitoring groups have noted a steady increase in such attacks, one group finding 264 violent incidents over the past year.

February 28, 2013
Human Security Report Project

Abstract:

Human Security Research is a monthly compilation of significant new human security-related research published by academics, university research institutes, think-tanks, international agencies, and NGOs.

In this issue:

NATURAL DISASTERS AND CONFLICT: When Disasters and Conflicts Collide: Improving Links Between Disaster Resilience and Conflict Prevention
SYRIA: Preliminary Statistical Analysis of Documentation of Killings in the Syrian Arab Republic
KENYA: Kenya’s 2013 Elections
COLLECTIVE VIOLENCE: It’s Who You Know: Social Networks, Interpersonal Connections, and Participation in Collective Violence
MEXICO: Drug Violence in Mexico: Data and Analysis Through 2012
TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME: Transnational Organized Crime in West Africa: A Threat Assessment
FAITH COMMUNITIES AND RESILIENCY: Local Faith Communities and the Promotion of Resilience in Humanitarian Situations: A Scoping Study
YEMEN: A Lasting Peace? Yemen's Long Journey to National Reconciliation
DISPLACEMENT: Displacement, Disharmony and Disillusion. Understanding Host-Refugee Tensions in Maban County, South Sudan
MENTAL HEALTH AND CONFLICT: Madness or Sadness? Local Concepts of Mental Illness in Four Conflict-affected African Communities
SRI LANKA: Sri Lanka’s Authoritarian Turn: The Need for International Action
JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION: Peace, Justice, and Reconciliation in Africa: Opportunities and Challenges in the Fight Against Impunity...

March 25, 2013
Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre

Abstract:

This policy brief examines the steps needed to improve women’s participation in peacekeeping, highlights the problem inherent in commonly cited arguments for increasing women peacekeepers and proposes key recommendations.

In recent years some UN member states have attempted to increase the number of women in peacekeeping operations (PKOs) (including introducing all-female units) as part of an effort to mainstream gender in UN institutions, but also to challenge and transform the predominantly masculine PKO culture. However, these efforts are largely isolated and ad hoc. While all these efforts aim at increasing the number of women participants in PKOs, achieving gender balance does not automatically translate into gender equality or gender mainstreaming.

To increase the meaningful participation of women in PKOs, women need to be integrated into senior, decision-making and leadership posts; all-female contingents should be trained and deployed in, and integrated into mixed-gender environments; and deploy women who are ready to substantively change the PKO environment. Numerical targets, women’s “feminine qualities” and quick fixes for addressing sexual violence in PKOs aside, policymakers should deploy women to assist in gender mainstreaming in PKOs and in changing local women’s lives....

March 19, 2013
Oxfam

Abstract:

In South Sudan, widespread euphoria following independence in July 2011 has given way to disappointment that expected peace dividends have not materialised. Many South Sudanese are experiencing insecurity, a lack of access to basic services, and increasing inequalities. Pastoralist and agro-pastoralist communities in remote border areas are particularly affected by insecurity and by a lack of social services, and women are particularly marginalised. This report is the result of Oxfam research to enable the needs and views of conflict-affected communities to be voiced, heard, and addressed, particularly in relation to security and livelihoods and with an emphasis on women’s participation. It focuses on the security concerns expressed by the communities themselves: conflict within and between communities, cattle raiding, and violence against women....

March 19, 2013
Conciliation Resources // Accord

Abstract:

Global policy highlights the importance of women’s participation in peace processes and peacebuilding. Yet the impact of international commitments is not felt on the ground. Most peace agreements do not address the specific concerns of women. And women are still excluded from political processes.

This first Accord Insight presents nine articles drawn from previous editions of Accord that examine the roles women have played in addressing violence and building peace. The case studies cover a period from 1998 to 2010 and contexts as far apart as Bougainville and Sierra Leone, Aceh and Northern Ireland. They document women’s first hand peacebuilding practice: the challenges they faced, the opportunities they created and the lessons they have drawn from their experiences.

The articles depict women in different contexts taking varying approaches to peacebuilding. They demonstrate women peace activists’ resilience and innovation to influence those set on violence, to mediate and promote reconciliation, and women’s capacity to mobilise and organise for peace despite exclusion from official negotiations....

March 15, 2013
Amnesty International

Abstract:

Civilians continue to be at the receiving end of increasingly frequent indiscriminate attacks by Syrian government forces. Imprecise weapons designed for the battlefield are killing, maiming and displacing growing numbers of civilians – many of them children. Unguided air-delivered bombs, artillery, rockets, and ballistic missiles which cannot be aimed at specific targets and do not distinguish between military targets and civilian objects, and internationally banned cluster munitions are being used daily against civilian residential areas in towns and villages, in utter disregard for the most fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.

Government forces also continue to commit other grave violations, including war crimes, notably they frequently arbitrarily detain, torture, disappear and extrajudicially execute men and boys suspected of support for armed opposition groups fighting the state or of support for political opposition to the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

In a recent two-week investigation in northern Syria Amnesty International visited 17 towns and villages in the Idlib, Jabal al-Zawiya and Jisr al-Shughour areas and Aleppo city, and carried out field investigations into indiscriminate attacks which killed more than 310 civilians (including more than 157 children and 52 women) and injured hundreds of others. The organization’s findings show that the frequency and scale of such attacks – which constitute war crimes - has increased in recent months, with disastrous consequences for the civilian population....

March 13, 2013
Medecins Sans Frontieres // Doctors Without Borders

Abstract:

Over the last ten years, as the European Union (EU) has tightened its border controls and increasingly externalised its migration policies, Morocco has changed from being just a transit country for migrants en route to Europe to being both a transit and destination country by default. MSF’s experience demonstrates that the longer sub-Saharan migrants stay in Morocco the more vulnerable they become. This preexisting vulnerability, related to factors such as age and gender, as well as traumas experienced during the migration process, accumulates as they are trapped in Morocco and subjected to policies and practices that neglect, exclude and discriminate against them.

MSF’s data demonstrates that the precarious living conditions that the majority of sub-Saharan migrants in Morocco are forced to live in and the wide-spread institutional and criminal violence that they are exposed to continue to be the main factors influencing medical and psychological needs. MSF teams have repeatedly highlighted and denounced this situation, yet violence remains a daily reality for the majority of sub-Saharan migrants in Morocco. In fact, as this report demonstrates, the period since December 2011 has seen a sharp increase in abuse, degrading treatment and violence against sub-Saharan migrants by Moroccan and Spanish security forces. This report also reveals the widespread violence carried out by criminal gangs, including bandits and human smuggling and human trafficking networks. It provides a glimpse into the shocking levels of sexual violence that migrants are exposed to throughout the migration process and demands better assistance and protection for those affected.

These unacceptable levels of violence should not overshadow the achievements that have been made in recognition and respect for sub-Saharan migrants’ right to health over the last ten years. Progress has been made, however considerable challenges remain, particularly with regard to non-emergency, secondary care, care for people with mental health problems and protection and assistance for survivors of sexual violence. Further investment and reform of the healthcare system is needed, however the impact of the progress made to date and any future reforms will be limited unless concrete action is taken to address the discrepancy between European and Moroccan policies which view migration through a security prism and criminalise, marginalise and discriminate against sub-Saharan migrants in Morocco and those which protect and uphold their fundamental human rights.

This report highlights the medical and psychological consequences of this approach and the cumulative vulnerability of the significant numbers of sub-Saharan migrants who are trapped in Morocco. In doing so it calls, once again, on the Moroccan authorities to respect their international and national commitments to human rights, develop and implement protection mechanisms and ensure that sub- Saharan migrants are treated in a humane and dignified manner, no matter what their legal status....

March 25, 2013
Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre

Abstract:

This policy brief examines the steps needed to improve women’s participation in peacekeeping, highlights the problem inherent in commonly cited arguments for increasing women peacekeepers and proposes key recommendations.

In recent years some UN member states have attempted to increase the number of women in peacekeeping operations (PKOs) (including introducing all-female units) as part of an effort to mainstream gender in UN institutions, but also to challenge and transform the predominantly masculine PKO culture. However, these efforts are largely isolated and ad hoc. While all these efforts aim at increasing the number of women participants in PKOs, achieving gender balance does not automatically translate into gender equality or gender mainstreaming.

To increase the meaningful participation of women in PKOs, women need to be integrated into senior, decision-making and leadership posts; all-female contingents should be trained and deployed in, and integrated into mixed-gender environments; and deploy women who are ready to substantively change the PKO environment. Numerical targets, women’s “feminine qualities” and quick fixes for addressing sexual violence in PKOs aside, policymakers should deploy women to assist in gender mainstreaming in PKOs and in changing local women’s lives....

March 25, 2013
Brookings Institution

Abstract:

On March 25, the Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence at Brookings hosted General John Allen, former commander of the International Security Assistance Force, for a discussion of the U.S. and NATO mission in Afghanistan.

General Allen led forces in Afghanistan for 19 months, from mid-2011 through February 2013. Prior to that, Allen was deputy commander of the U.S. Central Command from June 2008 through mid-2011. Brookings Senior Fellow Michael O'Hanlon, just back from his most recent research trip to Afghanistan, joined General Allen in a discussion on the mission as it progressed during his time in command through the current period....

March 25, 2013
Chatham House

Abstract:

This is a summary of an event held at Chatham House on 4 March 2013. The speakers discussed the humanitarian situation in Burma, arguing that improvements in human rights have not kept pace with the country's momentum towards political and economic reform.

March 25, 2013
UN Water

Abstract:

The new publication proposes a working definition of water security developed from contributions made by the broad range of organizations, agencies, programmes and institutions that form UN-Water. It is intended to serve as a starting point for dialogue on water security in the UN system. The Brief, produced by UN-Water Task Force on Water Security, aims to capture the dynamic and constantly evolving dimensions of water and water-related issues, and offers a holistic outlook for addressing water challenges through the umbrella of water security....

March 22, 2013
Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre

Abstract:

Preventive diplomacy and conflict prevention are intended to stop armed conflicts before they escalate. Conflict prevention is a broader concept referring to the monitoring, containment, and reduction of risk factors that shape war onset, intensification, and spread. Both constructs were conceived in the latter half of the 20th century, which was characterised by a sizeable array of international or interstate wars. There has since been a growth in capacities to anticipate and prevent conflicts before they erupt. This report considers historical trends, emerging opportunities, and recurrent challenges associated with preventive diplomacy and conflict prevention. Recommendations for future conflict prevention activities include sharing but not aligning conflict analyses, aligning conflict analyses with local understandings and terminology, researching drivers of peace separately from drivers of violence, studying the micro-determinants of success in preventive action, beginning a dialogue on the co-ordination of preventive action, and ensuring sufficient and flexible financing for preventive action....

March 21, 2013
Feinstein International Center // Assessment Capacities Project

Abstract:

This paper reports the results of a study undertaken during 2012 by Tufts University for the Assessment Capacities Project (ACAPS), as part of the latter’s “Operational Learning” strand of work. This study is designed to complement the work of ACAPS on strengthening needs assessment by addressing the question of how assessments and other sources of information and analysis are used by humanitarian decision makers. The study is based on a combination of literature review, case studies, and key informant interviews.

The pressure to demonstrate that responses and claims about impact are grounded in evidence has been growing over recent years. Humanitarian donors are increasingly under similar pressures to demonstrate effectiveness and account for impact. This is partly a matter of showing that their decisions regarding policies and programs are well-founded and evidence-based. But, humanitarian contexts are almost by definition ‘‘non-ideal” for gathering data. Decisions often have to be made quickly, sometimes with relatively little access to current information or accurate data. The question about informed decision making may therefore come down to what constitutes a “well enough” informed decision in the circumstances; or what constitutes “good enough” information and analysis on which to base a response. Whatever the quality of information, no assumption can be made that the increased availability of good information and analysis will in itself result in better informed decisions. In reviewing the way decisions are made in practice, the study considers the ways in which such information is used (or not) at different points in the process, which varies across different kinds of decisions in different contexts.

The study is based around three main questions. First, how do decision makers in the humanitarian sector currently use information and analysis? Second, what factors, other than information and analysis, are influential in making decisions? Third, what would enable better-informed response decisions? In order to address these overarching questions, the study looks first at some of the main processes of decision-making in the humanitarian sector and the factors that appear to have most influence on decisions of different kinds. It goes on to look at the way information and analysis is currently generated in the humanitarian sector—both through formal and informal means—and related questions of relevance and credibility. These two topics are then brought together in addressing the question of the use of information by decision makers, and what might enable more informed and evidence-based response decisions....

March 21, 2013
Conflict and Health

Abstract:

Background
Nepal is one of the post-conflict countries affected by violence from explosive devices. We undertook this study to assess the magnitude of injuries due to intentional explosions in Nepal during 2008-2011 and to describe time trends and epidemiologic patterns for these events.

Methods
We analyzed surveillance data on fatal and non-fatal injuries due to intentional explosions in Nepal that occurred between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2011. The case definition included casualties injured or killed by explosive devices knowingly activated by an individual or a group of individuals with the intent to harm, hurt or terrorize. Data were collected through media-based and active community-based surveillance.

Results
Analysis included 437 casualties injured or killed in 131 intentional explosion incidents. A decrease in the number of incidents and casualties between January 2008 and June 2009 was followed by a pronounced increase between July 2010 and June 2011. Eighty-four (19.2%) casualties were among females and 40 (9.2%) were among children under 18 years of age. Fifty-nine (45.3%) incidents involved one casualty, 47 (35.9%) involved 2 to 4 casualties, and 6 involved more than 10 casualties. The overall case-fatality ratio was 7.8%. The highest numbers of incidents occurred in streets or at crossroads, in victims' homes, and in shops or markets. Incidents on buses and near stadiums claimed the highest numbers of casualties per incident. Socket, sutali, and pressure cooker bombs caused the highest numbers of incidents.

Conclusions
Intentional explosion incidents still pose a threat to the civilian population of Nepal. Most incidents are caused by small homemade explosive devices and occur in public places, and males aged 20 to 39 account for a plurality of casualties. Stakeholders addressing the explosive device problem in Nepal should continue to use surveillance data to plan interventions....

March 19, 2013
Plan International

Abstract:

The first 8 years of a child’s life are the most critical in terms of development. Research has shown that under-nutrition, stressful conditions and poor stimulation during these years can affect brain structure and function. Between 2002 and 2006, 1.5 billion children in 42 countries were affected by crises. They may have survived the immediate disaster, but without interventions specifically aimed at their developmental needs, many may suffer the adverse effects for the rest of their lives. This report explains how – when disasters strike – Plan is working to save not just children’s lives, but their futures too. It shows the different impacts that disasters and emergencies can have on young children, and how Plan’s early childhood care and development (ECCD) in emergencies work is helping to limit those impacts....

March 13, 2013
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Abstract:

Eritreans have been seeking asylum in east Sudan for more than four decades and the region now hosts more than 100,000 refugees1. East Sudan has also become a key transit region for those fleeing Eritrea. One route, from East Sudan to Egypt, the Sinai desert and Israel has gained increasing attention. According to UNHCR statistics, the number of Eritreans crossing the border from Sinai to Israel has increased from 1,348 in 2006 to 17,175 in 2011. Coupled with this dramatic growth in numbers, the conditions on this route have caused great concern. Testimonies from Eritreans have increasingly referred to kidnapping, torture and extortion at the hands of human smugglers and traffickers.

The smuggling route from Eritrea to Israel is long, complex and involves many different actors. As such, it cannot be examined in its entirety in a single paper. This analysis consequently focuses on the movement of people from Eritrea to east Sudan, and from east Sudan to Egypt. A review of testimonies from Eritrean refugees and key informant interviews provide an understanding of the situation from the available data.

The paper is structured as follows. Following brief contextual information the paper opens with an examination of motivations and aspirations to leave Eritrea based on testimonies collected by UNHCR and NGOs in Israel and Cairo. This includes an overview of the current situation in Eritrea and the importance of the Eritrean diaspora in decision making. Section two addresses the changing refugee dynamics in east Sudan and why Shagarab refugee camp has become predominantly a place of transit rather than refuge.

The following section examines the role of smugglers in east Sudan. One group of smugglers mentioned in many testimonies are from an ethnic group known as the Rashaida. In order to explain their ubiquity in testimonies this section places human smuggling in the context of wider processes of trade, underdevelopment in the region and Sudan-Eritrean relations. It argues that the actions of a small number of Rashaida involved in the process of smuggling Eritreans are one of the products, not causes, of insecurity in the region. However, this should not detract from or lessen the human rights violations taking place along the route. To conclude the challenges and possibilities for protection, assistance and security are reviewed.

This paper is not a definitive guide to the situation and some pertinent limitations should be stressed. The situation is highly complex, fluid and subject to rapid change. There is currently research being undertaken that will detail specific routes, locations and individuals involved whereas this paper will outline trends and historical developments from the available literature. It is also important to note the testimonies examined in this paper were collected from those who had reached NGOs and UNHCR offices in Egypt or Israel and had specific protection concerns.2 There is therefore a bias within the testimonies and they do not reflect the myriad journeys and experiences of those who did not reach either of these destinations....

March 13, 2013
Medecins Sans Frontieres // Doctors Without Borders

Abstract:

Over the last ten years, as the European Union (EU) has tightened its border controls and increasingly externalised its migration policies, Morocco has changed from being just a transit country for migrants en route to Europe to being both a transit and destination country by default. MSF’s experience demonstrates that the longer sub-Saharan migrants stay in Morocco the more vulnerable they become. This preexisting vulnerability, related to factors such as age and gender, as well as traumas experienced during the migration process, accumulates as they are trapped in Morocco and subjected to policies and practices that neglect, exclude and discriminate against them.

MSF’s data demonstrates that the precarious living conditions that the majority of sub-Saharan migrants in Morocco are forced to live in and the wide-spread institutional and criminal violence that they are exposed to continue to be the main factors influencing medical and psychological needs. MSF teams have repeatedly highlighted and denounced this situation, yet violence remains a daily reality for the majority of sub-Saharan migrants in Morocco. In fact, as this report demonstrates, the period since December 2011 has seen a sharp increase in abuse, degrading treatment and violence against sub-Saharan migrants by Moroccan and Spanish security forces. This report also reveals the widespread violence carried out by criminal gangs, including bandits and human smuggling and human trafficking networks. It provides a glimpse into the shocking levels of sexual violence that migrants are exposed to throughout the migration process and demands better assistance and protection for those affected.

These unacceptable levels of violence should not overshadow the achievements that have been made in recognition and respect for sub-Saharan migrants’ right to health over the last ten years. Progress has been made, however considerable challenges remain, particularly with regard to non-emergency, secondary care, care for people with mental health problems and protection and assistance for survivors of sexual violence. Further investment and reform of the healthcare system is needed, however the impact of the progress made to date and any future reforms will be limited unless concrete action is taken to address the discrepancy between European and Moroccan policies which view migration through a security prism and criminalise, marginalise and discriminate against sub-Saharan migrants in Morocco and those which protect and uphold their fundamental human rights.

This report highlights the medical and psychological consequences of this approach and the cumulative vulnerability of the significant numbers of sub-Saharan migrants who are trapped in Morocco. In doing so it calls, once again, on the Moroccan authorities to respect their international and national commitments to human rights, develop and implement protection mechanisms and ensure that sub- Saharan migrants are treated in a humane and dignified manner, no matter what their legal status....

March 25, 2013
Chatham House

Abstract:

This is a summary of an event held at Chatham House on 4 March 2013. The speakers discussed the humanitarian situation in Burma, arguing that improvements in human rights have not kept pace with the country's momentum towards political and economic reform.

March 22, 2013
Amnesty International

Abstract:

Human rights are under severe threat in the North Caucasus, a region in the Russian Federation comprising six republics – Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachaevo-Cherkessia and North Ossetia – as well as Stavropol Krai (Region)1. The day-to-day lives of many people in the North Caucasus, as well as the wider political, economic and social context in this region of the Russian Federation, are very much defined by the threat which armed groups pose to security and the response from the Russian authorities. With regularly reported attacks against law enforcement officials, members of local administrations, prominent figures and members of the general public, the Russian authorities are faced with the need, and in fact have an obligation, to ensure that the local population can enjoy security. However, any efforts to combat the threat posed by armed groups, and in particular to identify and bring to justice those responsible for any alleged crimes, must observe the rule of law and fully respect human rights.

For years, Amnesty International has been receiving regular reports of human rights violations in the North Caucasus committed by members of law enforcement agencies in the context of the fight against armed groups. The organization has researched and documented numerous cases of human rights violations in the region, which include torture and other ill-treatment, as well as enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions.2 Such violations are frequently characterised also by the lack of adequate response on the part of the Russian authorities. More often than not in such cases, the alleged violations are not investigated promptly, thoroughly, effectively, independently and impartially as required by international law.3 Other institutions too, have expressed concerns about the authorities’ failure to investigate and the problem of impunity in the region. In relation to the cases of a number of “human rights activists, lawyers and journalists”, the PACE expressed “its bewilderment and anguish at the fact that to date none of these cases has been elucidated by the investigating system” and insisted that the authorities “bring to trial in accordance with the law all culprits of human rights violations, including members of the security forces, and to clear up the many crimes which have gone unpunished”.4...

March 21, 2013
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Abstract:

Statistical overview of asylum applications lodged in Europe and selected non-European countries.

March 21, 2013
Conflict and Health

Abstract:

Background
Nepal is one of the post-conflict countries affected by violence from explosive devices. We undertook this study to assess the magnitude of injuries due to intentional explosions in Nepal during 2008-2011 and to describe time trends and epidemiologic patterns for these events.

Methods
We analyzed surveillance data on fatal and non-fatal injuries due to intentional explosions in Nepal that occurred between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2011. The case definition included casualties injured or killed by explosive devices knowingly activated by an individual or a group of individuals with the intent to harm, hurt or terrorize. Data were collected through media-based and active community-based surveillance.

Results
Analysis included 437 casualties injured or killed in 131 intentional explosion incidents. A decrease in the number of incidents and casualties between January 2008 and June 2009 was followed by a pronounced increase between July 2010 and June 2011. Eighty-four (19.2%) casualties were among females and 40 (9.2%) were among children under 18 years of age. Fifty-nine (45.3%) incidents involved one casualty, 47 (35.9%) involved 2 to 4 casualties, and 6 involved more than 10 casualties. The overall case-fatality ratio was 7.8%. The highest numbers of incidents occurred in streets or at crossroads, in victims' homes, and in shops or markets. Incidents on buses and near stadiums claimed the highest numbers of casualties per incident. Socket, sutali, and pressure cooker bombs caused the highest numbers of incidents.

Conclusions
Intentional explosion incidents still pose a threat to the civilian population of Nepal. Most incidents are caused by small homemade explosive devices and occur in public places, and males aged 20 to 39 account for a plurality of casualties. Stakeholders addressing the explosive device problem in Nepal should continue to use surveillance data to plan interventions....

March 19, 2013
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre

Abstract:

More than 14 years after they first fled their homes, at least 29,000 people are still internally displaced due to armed conflict and violence in the North Caucasus, and an unknown number of people are still displaced elsewhere in Russia.

Displacement induced by the threat and impact of natural hazards, especially floods and wild fires, continues to be significant in Russia. Though information on such displacement and the current situation of these IDPs is scarce.

Government figures of the number of internally displaced are not in line with international standards and international organisations stopped compiling statistics on IDPs displaced by armed conflict and violence in 2011. The lack of accurate figures limits the government’s ability to effectively uphold IDPs’ rights and address their specific needs.

Despite massive reconstruction and the declaration that the conflicts in North Ossetia and Chechnya are resolved, violence and human rights abuses are ongoing and impunity of insurgents and law enforcement authorities continues in the region. This obstructs sustainable return and integration.

The protracted conflict and insecurity, as well as dwindling assistance, lack of permanent housing and economic stagnation are obstacles to their self-reliance. Internal displacement is losing attention but not pertinence....

November 27, 2012
University of Geneva

Abstract:

The consequences of development-induced displacement are the subject of research undertaken by experts from many disciplines. In addition to the specialist theoretical concepts (IRR Model; Colson-Scudder Four Stage Model), and useful general approaches (human rights, sociology, anthropology) an analysis on the basis of human security and development plays an increasingly important role. The classification of seven categories of human security, included in the UNDP Human Development Report, published in 1994, may be a valuable research tool for all specialists dealing with displacement studies. This fact is reflected by the growing scale of publications analyzing the intersection of environmental changes, conflict, and displacement (Suhrke, Westing, Myers). At least a few authors (Caspary, Bharali, Ozerdem & Jacoby) pointed out the usefulness of the concept of human security in the analysis of development-induced displacement and resettlement. Despite a stagnation of research in human security, observed in recent years, its application in the research of very dynamic global problems (such as famine and displacement) is still worthy of consideration.

The aim of this article is to consider the application of the most influential human security concepts to DIDR research. Taking into account the most influential human security classifications, I try to analyze the major problems facing displaced people. This analysis helps to determine what actions can help to improve the situation of displaced persons and to minimize the risks that affect them. Its connection to established models of analysis (IRR) can be helpful in specific development decisions in avoiding the problems typical for previous resettlement....

November 27, 2012
University of Geneva

Abstract:

According to a report published in recent years, developments in the mining industry are the cause of about 10.3 percent of all displacements in the world. This means that more than a million people per year may be resettled as a result of resource extraction in various parts of the globe. Countries displaying the greatest growth rate of this phenomenon include India, China, Ghana, and many other African counties. The most burning issue is the establishment of large open-pit mines in developing countries, such as the Tarkwa Mine in Ghana, and the Tedi and Porgera Mines in Papua Island. The impact of mining on the dynamics of internal displacements remains a topic rarely analyzed in the literature. Authors are more concerned with displacements induced by the construction of large dams and the creation of national parks or by ongoing urbanization processes. Instead of contributing to the well-being of local communities, the extraction of resources leads to a growing number of resettlements, environmental destruction, and a deterioration of the situation of marginalized groups. The consequences of the aforementioned problem do not diverge significantly from other categories of development-induced displacements such as oil-induced displacement, dam-induced displacement, or conservation-induced displacement.

The analysis of internal displacement has become the focus of different fields of study. Sociology, social anthropology, human rights and development studies, and even philosophy are amongst disciplines particularly useful in the exploration of the consequences of development induced displacement.

Research into this category of displacements, now under development for more than 40 years, has prompted the creation of specific theoretical concepts (i.e. the IRR model). The notion of human security also appears to be a useful scientific tool for more in-depth social analyses. Classification included in the Human Development Report published in 1994 distinguishes seven basic aspects of human security: economic security, food security, personal security, health security, environmental security, personal security, community security, and political security. Extraction of mineral resources leads to substantial threats to each of these aspects. An application of the aforementioned classifications to the research on the consequences of mining-induced displacement and resettlement helps to understand the broader context of problems encountered by the displacees. However, it should also be supplemented by two specific categories: gender security and cultural security....

November 4, 2011
Conflict, Security and Development

Abstract:

This article advances a counter-intuitive argument about what are argued to be the links between security and development in human security. The argument is counter-intuitive because the merging of development and security is explicitly part of the human security discourse. However, this paper will argue that human security can better be understood not through its own discourse, but placed in the context of the changing relationship between the developing world and the developed world after the end of the ColdWar. Rather than the merging of security and development it will suggest that human security is representative of a period in international relations in which there is a separation of security and development. The broader international context is one in which the developing world is less of a security concern to the developed than was the case during the Cold War....

October 28, 2011
Human Security Report Project

Abstract:

The Human Security Report 2005: War and Peace in the 21st Century documents a dramatic, but largely unknown, decline in the number of wars, genocides, and human rights abuse over the past decade. Published by Oxford University Press, the Report argues that the single most compelling explanation for these changes is found in the unprecedented upsurge of international activism, spearheaded by the UN, which took place in the wake of the Cold War and was designed to stop ongoing wars, help negotiate peace settlements, support post-conflict reconstruction, and prevent old wars from starting again....

October 28, 2011
Human Security Report Project

Abstract:

The Human Security Brief 2006 updates the 2005 Human Security Report's conflict trend data and analyzes the findings of two recently released datasets that track trends in war terminations and organized violence against civilians.

The new data indicate that the post-Cold War decline in armed conflicts and related fatalities reported last year has continued, with Sub-Saharan Africa seeing the greatest decrease in political violence.

Other encouraging trends include continuing declines in the number of genocides and other mass slaughters of civilians, and a drop in refugee numbers and military coups.

But some of the other findings are far from positive. Four of the world's six regions have experienced increased numbers of conflicts since 2002, the last five years have seen a huge spike in the estimated death toll from terrorism, while negotiated settlements, which are responsible for an increasing proportion of conflict terminations, have worryingly high failure rates....

March 21, 2013
Feinstein International Center // Assessment Capacities Project

Abstract:

This paper reports the results of a study undertaken during 2012 by Tufts University for the Assessment Capacities Project (ACAPS), as part of the latter’s “Operational Learning” strand of work. This study is designed to complement the work of ACAPS on strengthening needs assessment by addressing the question of how assessments and other sources of information and analysis are used by humanitarian decision makers. The study is based on a combination of literature review, case studies, and key informant interviews.

The pressure to demonstrate that responses and claims about impact are grounded in evidence has been growing over recent years. Humanitarian donors are increasingly under similar pressures to demonstrate effectiveness and account for impact. This is partly a matter of showing that their decisions regarding policies and programs are well-founded and evidence-based. But, humanitarian contexts are almost by definition ‘‘non-ideal” for gathering data. Decisions often have to be made quickly, sometimes with relatively little access to current information or accurate data. The question about informed decision making may therefore come down to what constitutes a “well enough” informed decision in the circumstances; or what constitutes “good enough” information and analysis on which to base a response. Whatever the quality of information, no assumption can be made that the increased availability of good information and analysis will in itself result in better informed decisions. In reviewing the way decisions are made in practice, the study considers the ways in which such information is used (or not) at different points in the process, which varies across different kinds of decisions in different contexts.

The study is based around three main questions. First, how do decision makers in the humanitarian sector currently use information and analysis? Second, what factors, other than information and analysis, are influential in making decisions? Third, what would enable better-informed response decisions? In order to address these overarching questions, the study looks first at some of the main processes of decision-making in the humanitarian sector and the factors that appear to have most influence on decisions of different kinds. It goes on to look at the way information and analysis is currently generated in the humanitarian sector—both through formal and informal means—and related questions of relevance and credibility. These two topics are then brought together in addressing the question of the use of information by decision makers, and what might enable more informed and evidence-based response decisions....

March 20, 2013
Chatham House

Abstract:

This is a transcript of a speech made by Sir John Holmes, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator (2007-10), on 14 March 2013 at Chatham House. Sir John Holmes argue that despite the best efforts of humanitarian organizations, the provision of aid to the world's most vulnerable groups is not immune from political interference. He discussed the problems of dealing with the governments of both donor and recipient countries, drawing on his experiences in Sudan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Burma.

March 19, 2013
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre

Abstract:

More than 14 years after they first fled their homes, at least 29,000 people are still internally displaced due to armed conflict and violence in the North Caucasus, and an unknown number of people are still displaced elsewhere in Russia.

Displacement induced by the threat and impact of natural hazards, especially floods and wild fires, continues to be significant in Russia. Though information on such displacement and the current situation of these IDPs is scarce.

Government figures of the number of internally displaced are not in line with international standards and international organisations stopped compiling statistics on IDPs displaced by armed conflict and violence in 2011. The lack of accurate figures limits the government’s ability to effectively uphold IDPs’ rights and address their specific needs.

Despite massive reconstruction and the declaration that the conflicts in North Ossetia and Chechnya are resolved, violence and human rights abuses are ongoing and impunity of insurgents and law enforcement authorities continues in the region. This obstructs sustainable return and integration.

The protracted conflict and insecurity, as well as dwindling assistance, lack of permanent housing and economic stagnation are obstacles to their self-reliance. Internal displacement is losing attention but not pertinence....

March 19, 2013
Plan International

Abstract:

The first 8 years of a child’s life are the most critical in terms of development. Research has shown that under-nutrition, stressful conditions and poor stimulation during these years can affect brain structure and function. Between 2002 and 2006, 1.5 billion children in 42 countries were affected by crises. They may have survived the immediate disaster, but without interventions specifically aimed at their developmental needs, many may suffer the adverse effects for the rest of their lives. This report explains how – when disasters strike – Plan is working to save not just children’s lives, but their futures too. It shows the different impacts that disasters and emergencies can have on young children, and how Plan’s early childhood care and development (ECCD) in emergencies work is helping to limit those impacts....

March 18, 2013
Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB)

Abstract:

The withdrawal of international troops seems to have set in motion the beginning of a stampede whose consequences will only be known over time. Limiting the damage of what looks like a widespread and comprehensive withdrawal at all levels from governments, companies or individuals will be crucial for the stability of Afghanistan.

There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the withdrawal provided that the necessary assets, funding and support are put in place to fill the vacuum left by the international forces. Should this not be guaranteed, the current fears of growing insecurity could become a reality triggering or exacerbating some of the current negative trends.

The gradual decline of aid, if properly managed is not intrinsically bad. As the World Bank points out “less aid with more effective aid delivery could, in the end, lead to more positive outcomes”.

The resurgence of the Taleban insurgency in 2006 started to reverse the prevailing trust and optimism of the business community. This trend has been exacerbated since the announcement of the withdrawal calendar in 2009.

The burden of, and the capacity for, changing reality on the ground for investors remains largely in the hands of the Afghan government through the implementation of the necessary reforms and actions that would guarantee a reasonable level of hard and economic security.

Both, the transition and post transition periods pose a series of great challenges. However none are really new to the country, just the means to tackle them and the division of labour....

March 21, 2013
Institute for Security Studies

Abstract:

While the planning process for the deployment of the African-led international support mission to Mali (AFISMA) was laboriously under way, events followed in rapid succession when the armed groups occupying the northern part of the country seized the town of Konna on 10 January 2013. This offensive triggered the French military `Operation Serval` and the arrival of AFISMA troops, including in Bamako, in support to the Malian army. In light of the new situation introduced by the military intervention, this report aims at analyzing the changing political and security dynamics while assessing the prospects for the management of the profound crisis of governance that contributed to taking Mali to the edge of the abyss....

March 8, 2013
Amnesty International

Abstract:

Since the ascension of Kim Jong Un as the leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) in December 2011, there have been no noticeable improvements in the human rights situation. The North Korean government continues to engage in the systematic violation of almost the entire range of human rights. The establishment of an independent, robust Commission of Inquiry to investigate the grave, systematic and widespread human rights violations in North Korea — including crimes against humanity—is of the utmost need and urgency. As the UN Human Rights Council enters its 22nd session, Amnesty International calls on member states to support a Resolution establishing an independent Commission of Inquiry to investigate these serious human rights violations in North Korea.

The North Korean government has consistently failed to cooperate with UN human rights mechanisms, including UN Treaty Bodies and Special Procedures. Amnesty International, like other international human rights organizations and monitors, is consistently denied access to North Korea.

In order to circumvent the unwillingness of the authorities to allow human rights investigators access, Amnesty International and others have used remote sensing tools to corroborate the information received by them. Satellite imagery has provided telltale signs of serious human rights violations in North Korea, including the use and expansion of notorious political prison camps (kwanliso).

Amnesty International commissioned satellite imagery analysis of the Cho’ma-Bong valley, 70km north-northeast of the North Korean capital, Pyongyang. The analysis demonstrates increased security in the form of controlled access points, raising of guard towers and construction of a perimeter in the vicinity of Kwanliso 14.

Analysis of new satellite images shows the North Korean government is blurring the lines between Kwanliso 14 and the surrounding population....

March 6, 2013
Igarapé Institute

Abstract:

The Responsibility to protect (R2P) was admitted as an international norm in 2005 by 191 heads of government and state. R2P emphasizes that states have the responsibility to protect their populations from four major human rights violations: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

Despite R2P’s wide acceptance, the possibility of use of force raised by it has been a largely controversial aspect, having been questioned since 2005 by a number of emerging countries – including Brazil – due to fear of the concept being misused to fulfill hidden agendas and because it implies a violation to the principle of sovereignty.

At the end of 2011, Brazil launched the idea of “Responsibility while Protecting” (RwP), triggering reflection throughout the international community on the principles, rules and parameters applicable to the use of force, on behalf of all UN Member-states, by military operations aimed at protecting populations from the four R2P crimes.

Many of the elements of the Brazilian proposal stem from International Humanitarian Law and the Just war theory, which partially reduces the strength of the initiative. On the other hand, the fact that RwP is based on existing principles increases the possibility of forging consensus around it within the heated and polarized debate on implementation of R2P.

Some countries support RwP’s contribution for R2P, others reject it and a third group has not yet positioned itself. The Brazilian proposal – and its reception in a number of capitals – shows that, in a world where most countries are only norm-takers, today Brazil can contribute, to some extent, to the complex process of norm-making. In order to effectively consolidate this new role, it is fundamental that the country does not abandon the process it has so wisely started....

February 22, 2013
Center for a New American Security

Abstract:

As the conflict in Syria escalates into an even more brutal civil war, it not only continues to cause great human suffering, but it also threatens to undermine the stability of the country’s regional neighbors. In Syria’s Hard Landing, Dr. Marc Lynch, CNAS Non-Resident Senior Fellow and Associate Professor of Political Science and the Director of the Institute for Middle East Studies at the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University, argues that the international response to these developments has been manifestly inadequate. While he writes that the debate over Syria must shift to reflect new realities and that there are actions American policymakers can take in order to prepare for a political transition after Asad falls from power, he maintains that the United States should continue to resist direct intervention or directly arming rebels....

February 21, 2013
Foreign Affairs // Council on Foreign Relations

Abstract:

France's intervention in Mali has so far succeeded, but expelling Islamist militants was the easy part. Now Paris must turn its tactical achievements into a lasting victory -- which will require a light but enduring presence in the country.

March 25, 2013
Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre

Abstract:

This policy brief examines the steps needed to improve women’s participation in peacekeeping, highlights the problem inherent in commonly cited arguments for increasing women peacekeepers and proposes key recommendations.

In recent years some UN member states have attempted to increase the number of women in peacekeeping operations (PKOs) (including introducing all-female units) as part of an effort to mainstream gender in UN institutions, but also to challenge and transform the predominantly masculine PKO culture. However, these efforts are largely isolated and ad hoc. While all these efforts aim at increasing the number of women participants in PKOs, achieving gender balance does not automatically translate into gender equality or gender mainstreaming.

To increase the meaningful participation of women in PKOs, women need to be integrated into senior, decision-making and leadership posts; all-female contingents should be trained and deployed in, and integrated into mixed-gender environments; and deploy women who are ready to substantively change the PKO environment. Numerical targets, women’s “feminine qualities” and quick fixes for addressing sexual violence in PKOs aside, policymakers should deploy women to assist in gender mainstreaming in PKOs and in changing local women’s lives....

March 25, 2013
UN Water

Abstract:

The new publication proposes a working definition of water security developed from contributions made by the broad range of organizations, agencies, programmes and institutions that form UN-Water. It is intended to serve as a starting point for dialogue on water security in the UN system. The Brief, produced by UN-Water Task Force on Water Security, aims to capture the dynamic and constantly evolving dimensions of water and water-related issues, and offers a holistic outlook for addressing water challenges through the umbrella of water security....

March 22, 2013
Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre

Abstract:

Preventive diplomacy and conflict prevention are intended to stop armed conflicts before they escalate. Conflict prevention is a broader concept referring to the monitoring, containment, and reduction of risk factors that shape war onset, intensification, and spread. Both constructs were conceived in the latter half of the 20th century, which was characterised by a sizeable array of international or interstate wars. There has since been a growth in capacities to anticipate and prevent conflicts before they erupt. This report considers historical trends, emerging opportunities, and recurrent challenges associated with preventive diplomacy and conflict prevention. Recommendations for future conflict prevention activities include sharing but not aligning conflict analyses, aligning conflict analyses with local understandings and terminology, researching drivers of peace separately from drivers of violence, studying the micro-determinants of success in preventive action, beginning a dialogue on the co-ordination of preventive action, and ensuring sufficient and flexible financing for preventive action....

March 21, 2013
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Abstract:

Statistical overview of asylum applications lodged in Europe and selected non-European countries.

March 21, 2013
Feinstein International Center // Assessment Capacities Project

Abstract:

This paper reports the results of a study undertaken during 2012 by Tufts University for the Assessment Capacities Project (ACAPS), as part of the latter’s “Operational Learning” strand of work. This study is designed to complement the work of ACAPS on strengthening needs assessment by addressing the question of how assessments and other sources of information and analysis are used by humanitarian decision makers. The study is based on a combination of literature review, case studies, and key informant interviews.

The pressure to demonstrate that responses and claims about impact are grounded in evidence has been growing over recent years. Humanitarian donors are increasingly under similar pressures to demonstrate effectiveness and account for impact. This is partly a matter of showing that their decisions regarding policies and programs are well-founded and evidence-based. But, humanitarian contexts are almost by definition ‘‘non-ideal” for gathering data. Decisions often have to be made quickly, sometimes with relatively little access to current information or accurate data. The question about informed decision making may therefore come down to what constitutes a “well enough” informed decision in the circumstances; or what constitutes “good enough” information and analysis on which to base a response. Whatever the quality of information, no assumption can be made that the increased availability of good information and analysis will in itself result in better informed decisions. In reviewing the way decisions are made in practice, the study considers the ways in which such information is used (or not) at different points in the process, which varies across different kinds of decisions in different contexts.

The study is based around three main questions. First, how do decision makers in the humanitarian sector currently use information and analysis? Second, what factors, other than information and analysis, are influential in making decisions? Third, what would enable better-informed response decisions? In order to address these overarching questions, the study looks first at some of the main processes of decision-making in the humanitarian sector and the factors that appear to have most influence on decisions of different kinds. It goes on to look at the way information and analysis is currently generated in the humanitarian sector—both through formal and informal means—and related questions of relevance and credibility. These two topics are then brought together in addressing the question of the use of information by decision makers, and what might enable more informed and evidence-based response decisions....

March 25, 2013
UN Water

Abstract:

The new publication proposes a working definition of water security developed from contributions made by the broad range of organizations, agencies, programmes and institutions that form UN-Water. It is intended to serve as a starting point for dialogue on water security in the UN system. The Brief, produced by UN-Water Task Force on Water Security, aims to capture the dynamic and constantly evolving dimensions of water and water-related issues, and offers a holistic outlook for addressing water challenges through the umbrella of water security....

March 22, 2013
Amnesty International

Abstract:

Human rights are under severe threat in the North Caucasus, a region in the Russian Federation comprising six republics – Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachaevo-Cherkessia and North Ossetia – as well as Stavropol Krai (Region)1. The day-to-day lives of many people in the North Caucasus, as well as the wider political, economic and social context in this region of the Russian Federation, are very much defined by the threat which armed groups pose to security and the response from the Russian authorities. With regularly reported attacks against law enforcement officials, members of local administrations, prominent figures and members of the general public, the Russian authorities are faced with the need, and in fact have an obligation, to ensure that the local population can enjoy security. However, any efforts to combat the threat posed by armed groups, and in particular to identify and bring to justice those responsible for any alleged crimes, must observe the rule of law and fully respect human rights.

For years, Amnesty International has been receiving regular reports of human rights violations in the North Caucasus committed by members of law enforcement agencies in the context of the fight against armed groups. The organization has researched and documented numerous cases of human rights violations in the region, which include torture and other ill-treatment, as well as enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions.2 Such violations are frequently characterised also by the lack of adequate response on the part of the Russian authorities. More often than not in such cases, the alleged violations are not investigated promptly, thoroughly, effectively, independently and impartially as required by international law.3 Other institutions too, have expressed concerns about the authorities’ failure to investigate and the problem of impunity in the region. In relation to the cases of a number of “human rights activists, lawyers and journalists”, the PACE expressed “its bewilderment and anguish at the fact that to date none of these cases has been elucidated by the investigating system” and insisted that the authorities “bring to trial in accordance with the law all culprits of human rights violations, including members of the security forces, and to clear up the many crimes which have gone unpunished”.4...

March 20, 2013
Australian Strategic Policy Institute // S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies

Abstract:

The issue of terrorist motivations and pathways towards violent extremism has been the subject of numerous studies in recent years. Much of that work, however, has focused on open source literature. Less attention has been given to understanding the individuals themselves and their personal experiences within terrorist organisations.

To help address this gap, ASPI and the Centre of Excellence for National Security, a constituent research unit of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore, undertook a joint research project to conduct personal interviews with members of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist organisation who are serving or have served prison sentences in Indonesia. The project was directed by Carl Ungerer....

March 20, 2013
Amnesty International

Abstract:

Reckless and illegal arms supplies from Europe, Africa and China to the warring parties in Côte d'Ivoire over the past decade continue to fuel grave human rights abuses and violent crime in the country, Amnesty International said in a detailed report launched at the United Nations (UN) headquarters.

This report documents how a handful of states and a network of multinational arms traffickers supplied weapons and munitions to both sides in the conflict who committed war crimes and a range of human rights abuses including horrific violence against women and girls. The arms transfers took place both before and after the UN Security Council imposed an arms embargo on the country in November 2004....

March 19, 2013
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees // United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC

Abstract:

A UN research into the human rights situation in detention centers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) shows that the number of deaths in detention almost doubled in 2012, and that conditions of detention remain extremely poor in the vast majority of detention centres.

Between January 2010 and December 2012, a total of at least 211 civilians died in Congolese detention centers. In 2012, 101 such deaths were recorded compared to 54 in 2010 and 56 in 2011. The report notes that poor conditions, including overcrowding, malnutrition, limited access to health care and lack of resources, were the main causes of death, but also says that more than 10 percent of the deaths (24 cases) were caused by torture or ill-treatment, a finding it describes as “extremely worrying.”

The report, published Wednesday, details the results of in-depth research conducted by human rights officers working for the UN Joint Human Rights Office in the DRC (UNJHRO)* during visits to prisons and other detention centers throughout the country....

March 4, 2013
Center for International Media Assistance

Abstract:

CIMA announces the release of a special report, You Say You Want a Revolution … Then What?, a first-person account by veteran journalist and media trainer Carolyn Robinson of her experiences training broadcast journalists in Libya after the death of leader Moammar Qaddafi. Robinson outlines some of the unusual obstacles and challenges she faced in managing two USAID/OTI grants in Libya for Internews in the very early days after the revolution, and how her team came up with novel approaches to overcome the special circumstances they faced on the ground. Her essay is not so much about what can and should be done for media development in Libya today, but about how to structure training in chaotic post-conflict environments....

February 20, 2013
Save the Children, Australia

Abstract:

Uruzgan presents an enormously challenging operating environment for development activity. An estimated 35-45 per cent of the province remains outside government control, and anti-government attacks are reported, on average, every day. Much of the province, particularly outside of the provincial capital and the district centres, is for the most part inaccessible to non-local development staff.

Uruzgan is also one of the most under-served provinces in Afghanistan. Adult literacy is just seven per cent for men and less than one per cent for women, less than 40 per cent of children are in school, and the maternal mortality rate is one in 40. Recent years have seen some increase in access to basic services, but the reach of government services and the efforts of development actors have been – and continue to be – hampered by insecurity. Development activities have preferenced the more accessible districts, with just 40 per cent of development actors operating outside the districts considered to be secure.

But some NGOs do operate in districts where government control is tenuous, and where access is restricted. NGOs operating in these districts have adopted a range of strategies for implementing and monitoring their programs, relying to varying extents on community groups or staff and/or volunteers who are local to, and work in, the districts. But capacity at the district level is extremely low, and this mode of operating presents enormous challenges for NGOs striving to assure the quality of services delivered....

February 19, 2013
Trans-Border Institute // Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies // University of San Diego

Abstract:

The year 2012 marked the end of the six-year term of President Felipe Calderón (2006-2012), who was both lauded for his administration’s unprecedented assault on organized crime groups and criticized for the loss of human life that accompanied this fight. From the beginning of his presidency, President Calderón made security a primary focus of his administration by doubling national security budgets and deploying tens of thousands of federal forces to the states most impacted by violence among drug trafficking organizations.

However, under President Calderón, the number of overall homicides annually increased more than two and a half times from 10,452 in 2006 to 27,213 in 2011, according to figures from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía, INEGI). During the first five full years of Calderón’s term—from 2007 through 2011—INEGI reported 95,646 people killed, an average of 19,129 per year, or more than 50 people per day. By these measures, there was a 24% average annual increase in overall homicides during the Calderón administration. Calculating that overall homicides appear to have dropped by roughly 5-10% in 2012, our estimate is that the total number of homicides during the Calderón administration was likely around 120,000 to 125,000 people killed, depending on whether INEGI or the National System of Public Security (Sistema Nacional de Seguridad Pública, SNSP) data are used.

In July 2012, Mexico elected a new president, Enrique Peña Nieto, who took office on December 1, restoring to power the Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional, PRI), which governed Mexico without interruption for over seven decades until it lost the presidency in 2000. For better security coordination among government agencies, President Peña Nieto has instructed the Interior Ministry (Secretaría de Gobernación, SEGOB) to oversee the creation of a new network, the System of Coordination and Cooperation (Sistema de Coordinación y Cooperación). (See below for more information on Peña Nieto’s new plan).

In January 2012, Peña Nieto gave a clear message regarding the direction that his presidency will follow on security policy when he unveiled the “Pact for Mexico” (Pacto por México), an agreement signed along with representatives from Mexico’s major political parties. The Pact—a 34-page itemized list of policies and reforms—set forth proposals in several areas related to security and justice issues, particularly focusing on reducing homicides, kidnapping, and extortion. The Pact outlined steps to establish a 10,000-person National Gendarmerie and a unified police command system at the state-level. Above all, from the outset of his term, Peña Nieto declared that his security strategy would abandon the Calderón administration’s heavy dependence on military deployments and its focus on dismantling organized crime groups.

This information is part of “Drug Violence in Mexico: Data and Analysis through 2012,” the fourth of a series of reports that the Trans-Border Institute’s Justice in Mexico Project has put together each year since 2010 to compile the latest available data and analysis to evaluate these challenges....

February 14, 2013
Human Rights Watch

Abstract:

The euphoria of the Arab Spring has given way to the sobering challenge of creating rights-respecting democracies, Human Rights Watch said today in issuing its World Report 2013. The willingness of new governments to respect rights will determine whether those uprisings give birth to genuine democracy or simply spawn authoritarianism in new forms.

In the 665-page report, its 23rd annual review of human rights practices around the globe, Human Rights Watch summarizes major issues in more than 90 countries. With regard to events in the Middle East and North Africa known as the Arab Spring, Human Rights Watch said the creation of a rights-respecting state can be painstaking work that requires building effective institutions of governance, establishing independent courts, creating professional police, and resisting the temptation of majorities to disregard human rights and the rule of law. But the difficulty of building democracy does not justify seeking a return to the old order, Human Rights Watch said....

February 4, 2013
Human Security Report Project

Abstract:

Human Security Research is a monthly compilation of significant new human security-related research published by academics, university research institutes, think-tanks, international agencies, and NGOs.

HUMANITARIAN AID: Aid Worker Security Report 2012: Host States and Their Impact on Security for Humanitarian Operations
MEXICO: The Impact of President Felipe Calderón’s War on Drugs on the Armed Forces: The Prospects for Mexico’s “Militarization” and Bilateral Relations
POLITICAL MISSIONS: Political Missions 2012
RADICALIZATION: Countering Radicalization in Europe
SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND CONFLICT: In the Face of War: Examining Sexual Vulnerabilities of Acholi Adolescent Girls Living in Displacement Camps in Conflict-affected Northern Uganda
GENDER: From Clause to Effect: Including Women's Rights and Gender in Peace Agreements
KYRGYZSTAN: Averting Violence in Kyrgyzstan: Understanding and Responding to Nationalism
LRA: Getting Back on Track: Implementing the UN Regional Strategy on the Lord's Resistance Army
TERRORISM: Global Terrorism Index 2012: Capturing the Impact of Terrorism from 2002-2011
WEAPONRY: Losing Humanity: The Case Against Killer Robots
MEDIA: Working in Concert: Coordination and Collaboration in International Media Development
PAKISTAN: Pakistan on the Edge...

March 25, 2013
UN Water

Abstract:

The new publication proposes a working definition of water security developed from contributions made by the broad range of organizations, agencies, programmes and institutions that form UN-Water. It is intended to serve as a starting point for dialogue on water security in the UN system. The Brief, produced by UN-Water Task Force on Water Security, aims to capture the dynamic and constantly evolving dimensions of water and water-related issues, and offers a holistic outlook for addressing water challenges through the umbrella of water security....

March 21, 2013
Institute for Security Studies

Abstract:

Western governments focus heavily on the presence of Islamist extremists in the Sahel and have provided technical assistance in an attempt to strengthen the capacity of the security sectors and justice systems in the countries of the region to hold them back. But the preoccupation with West Africa’s war on terror has meant that the destabilising impact of organised crime has been consistently underestimated, if not ignored altogether. As rebuilding begins in Mali, all signs point to the same oversight happening again. Organised crime is not the primary driver of the current conflict in Mali, but any effort to stabilise or resolve this conflict should explicitly take the presence of organised crime, illicit resource flows and criminal networks into account....

March 19, 2013
Oxfam

Abstract:

In South Sudan, widespread euphoria following independence in July 2011 has given way to disappointment that expected peace dividends have not materialised. Many South Sudanese are experiencing insecurity, a lack of access to basic services, and increasing inequalities. Pastoralist and agro-pastoralist communities in remote border areas are particularly affected by insecurity and by a lack of social services, and women are particularly marginalised. This report is the result of Oxfam research to enable the needs and views of conflict-affected communities to be voiced, heard, and addressed, particularly in relation to security and livelihoods and with an emphasis on women’s participation. It focuses on the security concerns expressed by the communities themselves: conflict within and between communities, cattle raiding, and violence against women....

March 18, 2013
Australian Strategic Policy Institute

Abstract:

This Report provides a summary of the deliberations as well as some very useful background papers from the Perth Counter-Piracy Conference held on 16–17 July 2012. The Conference addressed the issues of piracy and armed robbery against ships. It compared the situation in the three main areas where these crimes are most prolific -in Southeast Asia, off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Guinea- with a view towards gaining ideas about the lessons to be learned and how the fight against piracy and sea robbery might be strengthened at the national, regional and international levels....

March 6, 2013
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs

Abstract:

While the Arab Spring has brought significant opportunities for reform and the emergence of more stable democratic states in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), recent events have seriously undermined security and stability in the region and reshaped the security environment there. This has put NATO’s stated ambition of strengthening and deepening its regional partnerships in order to address common security challenges to the shared goals of peace, security and stability into question. This report looks into how NATO is likely to address the ‘new’ MENA region by investigating how factors internal and external to the Alliance shape its possibilities and limits for strengthening and developing partnerships in order to enhance security and stability in the region. In addition, this report outlines some implications this may have for Norwegian security and defence policy....

March 21, 2013
Conflict and Health

Abstract:

Background
Nepal is one of the post-conflict countries affected by violence from explosive devices. We undertook this study to assess the magnitude of injuries due to intentional explosions in Nepal during 2008-2011 and to describe time trends and epidemiologic patterns for these events.

Methods
We analyzed surveillance data on fatal and non-fatal injuries due to intentional explosions in Nepal that occurred between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2011. The case definition included casualties injured or killed by explosive devices knowingly activated by an individual or a group of individuals with the intent to harm, hurt or terrorize. Data were collected through media-based and active community-based surveillance.

Results
Analysis included 437 casualties injured or killed in 131 intentional explosion incidents. A decrease in the number of incidents and casualties between January 2008 and June 2009 was followed by a pronounced increase between July 2010 and June 2011. Eighty-four (19.2%) casualties were among females and 40 (9.2%) were among children under 18 years of age. Fifty-nine (45.3%) incidents involved one casualty, 47 (35.9%) involved 2 to 4 casualties, and 6 involved more than 10 casualties. The overall case-fatality ratio was 7.8%. The highest numbers of incidents occurred in streets or at crossroads, in victims' homes, and in shops or markets. Incidents on buses and near stadiums claimed the highest numbers of casualties per incident. Socket, sutali, and pressure cooker bombs caused the highest numbers of incidents.

Conclusions
Intentional explosion incidents still pose a threat to the civilian population of Nepal. Most incidents are caused by small homemade explosive devices and occur in public places, and males aged 20 to 39 account for a plurality of casualties. Stakeholders addressing the explosive device problem in Nepal should continue to use surveillance data to plan interventions....

March 18, 2013
Chatham House

Abstract:

This is a transcript of an event held at Chatham House on 12 March 2013. The panel discussed the international community's role in supporting Afghanistan after the 2014 withdrawal of international troops, including strategies for building up local security, the possibility of reconciliation with the Taliban, and how to address ongoing humanitarian needs in the country. Speakers included: Dr Robert Johnson, Jawed Nader, Matt Waldman.

March 13, 2013
The Nordic Africa Institute

Abstract:

This paper analyses Nigeria’s role in the African Union (AU) and con-cludes that the latter is a strategic platform for the conduct of Nigeria’s foreign policy objectives in Africa. The study finds that the country has a ‘manifest destiny’ to play leadership roles in Africa and debunks the perception that Nigeria’s role in the AU is in decline. The paper further explores Nigeria’s AU priorities since the Arab revolts and concludes that the country’s ability to steer a clear course at the AU holds out pro-spects for peace, stability and security in Africa....

March 13, 2013
German Development Institute // Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik

Abstract:

This paper provides an overview of current research and practice of governance evaluation covering three topics: electoral accountability, corruption, and multidimensional peacekeeping. It illustrates how previous evaluation challenges have been tackled using state-of-the-art methodologies, and how these methods are recently being used to explore causal mechanisms. This paper argues that evaluating interventions is necessary in order to advance our knowledge of governance, but that studies that test theories and assumptions, explain causes and consequences, and tackle measurement problems are equally important, especially for donor programming. By reviewing a range of ongoing and published evaluation and research studies, this paper extracts lessons for governance policy and for practice of governance evaluation....

March 12, 2013
Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre

Abstract:

In this brief the author examines the UN’s primary roadmap for operationalizing its women, peace and security agenda: the 2010 Seven-Point Action Plan on Gender-Responsive Peacebuilding. He points out that despite the Action Plan’s endorsement by the Secretary-General and his senior leadership team, implementation has been extremely disappointing. He also suggests strategies with which member states can help to strengthen the agenda implementation.

March 6, 2013
Small Arms Survey

Abstract:

This paper examines the various opportunities and challenges facing the KPRs in Kenya’s Turkana and Laikipia counties, and considers in particular the management and control of reservists’ 'rearms, given the wider problems of arms control and insecurity in Kenya’s peripheral areas. It seeks to relate the changing economic environment in rural parts of these counties to the evolving role of the KPRs. The paper highlights how each distinct context (Turkana with its natural resource economy and Laikipia with its conservation tourism industry) is adapting the KPRs’ traditional role. These new roles, as we shall see, are not always positive. Economic pressure, competition for resources (both natural and technical), weak or non-existent operational policy, a lack of oversight or governing structure, the attraction of secondary employment, and the constant -ow of destabilizing small arms from neighbouring conflict zones are straining the KPR towards breaking point. Firearm misuse and criminal behaviour by KPRs are exacerbating tensions in Kenya’s remote rural regions. This paper will argue that without the immediate implementation of operational and small arms controls, the KPR risks evolving into armed militia groups....

October 17, 2012
Human Rights Watch

Abstract:

This report details the final hours of Muammar Gaddafi’s life and the circumstances under which he was killed. It presents evidence that Misrata-based militias captured and disarmed members of the Gaddafi convoy and, after bringing them under their total control, subjected them to brutal beatings. They then executed at least 66 captured members of the convoy at the nearby Mahari Hotel. The evidence indicates that opposition militias took Gaddafi’s wounded son Mutassim from Sirte to Misrata and killed him there.

Under the laws of war, the killing of captured combatants is a war crime, and Libyan civilian and military authorities have an obligation to investigate war crimes and other violations of international humanitarian law....

October 16, 2012
Center on International Cooperation // New York University

Abstract:

Over the past decade the United States and the international community have funded an unprecedented private security industry in Afghanistan. As a result, this industry has become entangled with the Afghan political economy, as international spending has been implicated in funding informal armed groups and commanders. Considerable uncertainty remains as Afghanistan approaches the 2014 deadline for assuming national security responsibilities. Matthieu Aikins argues that with the expected decrease in international aid and changes in the national economy, future stability of Afghanistan depends on ensuring a political settlement among the country's diverse powerbrokers and networks....

October 12, 2012
Amnesty International

Abstract:

Dozens of people in Rwanda suspected of threatening national security have been held in a network of secret detention centres run by the military. In these camps, detainees were unlawfully held and were at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. Some are still held in secret detention. This report documents cases of unlawful detention and allegations of ill-treatment by Rwandan military intelligence in 2010 and 2011. Amnesty International is urging the government to end these practices, disclose the whereabouts of detainees, investigate torture allegations and bring those responsible to justice....

July 24, 2012
Center for Strategic and International Studies

Abstract:

No one should approach the challenges of creating effective Afghan security forces—and creating the right assessment process—without remembering our failures in Vietnam and Iraq. These were very different wars from Afghanistan, but they had two things in common. We consistently exaggerated the progress being made in developing both sets of forces, and we made constant changes to our goals for force size, structure, and funding. Every year was the first year in Vietnam and Iraq in very important ways.

We have repeated this experience in Afghanistan. We have also repeated our tendency to try to rush force development and focus on progress rather than problems. Our current assessment tools like the CUAT system have taken years to evolve and still focus largely on force generation rather than the broader—and far more important issue—of whether we can create an affordable and sustainable force that can actually take over the security burden.

A detailed analysis of these issues is provided in Dr. Cordesman’s formal statement, Afghan National Security Forces and Security Lead Transition: The Assessment Process, Metrics, and Efforts to Build Capacity....

March 22, 2013
NATO Civil-Military Fusion Centre

Abstract:

This document provides an overview of the origins and current challenges of displacement flows by refugees and IDPs in Afghanistan. Furthermore, it presents, based on an open-source research, the potential flows that could occur in Afghanistan post 2014. Related information is available at www.cimicweb.org. Hyperlinks to source material are highlighted in blue and underlined in the text.

March 21, 2013
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Abstract:

Statistical overview of asylum applications lodged in Europe and selected non-European countries.

March 20, 2013
International Organization for Migration

Abstract:

The International Dialogue on Migration 2012 aims to enhance synergies between humanitarian and migration perspectives in the search for appropriate responses to migration crises. The second workshop in the series focuses on the plight of migrants who are caught up in crises in their countries of transit or destination. When countries of destination or transit experience political turmoil, conflict or natural disasters, their migrant populations often have few means to escape and ensure their own safety. Risks and vulnerabilities are exacerbated when migrants are in an irregular situation, or when countries of origin lack the resources, capacity and access to protect and assist their nationals abroad. Some migrants may be unable or unwilling to leave the crisis zone, while others may be forced to cross borders into neighbouring countries. As a result, repercussions may be felt regionally and beyond. Ultimately, migrants may escape crises by returning or being evacuated to their countries of origin, but challenges do not end there: countries of origin may struggle to receive and reintegrate large numbers of returnees, while the sudden loss of remittances may leave their families and home communities without income. The departure of migrant workers may also leave gaps in the labour markets of countries of destination which may in fact depend on migrant labour for post-crisis recovery and reconstruction.

The overall objective of the workshop is to support States in devising a framework of policies and actions to address the situation of migrants in crisis situations. Consistent with IOM's mandate and Strategy Document (activity 7), the IDM provides a forum for IOM Member and Observer States, as well as international and non-governmental organizations and other partners, to share experiences and perspectives on migration matters with a view to identifying practical solutions and fostering greater cooperation....

March 19, 2013
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre

Abstract:

More than 14 years after they first fled their homes, at least 29,000 people are still internally displaced due to armed conflict and violence in the North Caucasus, and an unknown number of people are still displaced elsewhere in Russia.

Displacement induced by the threat and impact of natural hazards, especially floods and wild fires, continues to be significant in Russia. Though information on such displacement and the current situation of these IDPs is scarce.

Government figures of the number of internally displaced are not in line with international standards and international organisations stopped compiling statistics on IDPs displaced by armed conflict and violence in 2011. The lack of accurate figures limits the government’s ability to effectively uphold IDPs’ rights and address their specific needs.

Despite massive reconstruction and the declaration that the conflicts in North Ossetia and Chechnya are resolved, violence and human rights abuses are ongoing and impunity of insurgents and law enforcement authorities continues in the region. This obstructs sustainable return and integration.

The protracted conflict and insecurity, as well as dwindling assistance, lack of permanent housing and economic stagnation are obstacles to their self-reliance. Internal displacement is losing attention but not pertinence....

March 19, 2013
Oxfam

Abstract:

Colombia has one of the longest-running armed conflicts in the world, as well as the highest number of internally displaced persons (IDPs). Oxfam research in the department of Nariño and in the Montes de María area of the department of Bolivar found that the Colombian government’s stabilization program (the National Consolidation Plan, or NCP) has not promoted peace, good governance, or sustainable development, as intended. The United States is one of the leading donors to NCP, along with Spain and the Netherlands. In the areas where we carried out our research, our interviewees clearly indicated that the NCP and other stabilization efforts had failed to make communities more secure, often leaving them less safe. We found severe limitations in attempts to promote conflict-sensitive development. This briefing paper explores these issues and offers recommendations to improve both security and development in Nariño and Montes de María....

March 13, 2013
The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence

Abstract:

With commentators and analyst offering descriptions ranging from populist street movement to racial-nationalists and fascists, it is clear that a great deal of uncertainty remains regarding the true nature of the English Defence League (EDL) and its European affiliates. The rise of this self-described “Counter-Jihad” movement in Europe, which seeks to combat the perceived threat of “Islamisation” through Europe-wide protests and awareness and advocacy campaigns, has added a new and complex element to the study of the far-right in Europe.

The last year has also seen a spread of the defence league concept to the continent, and Scandinavia in particular, where Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and Finnish defence leagues have emerged. As the original root of this new, strident Counter-Jihad movement in Europe, it is important to understand the history and origins of the EDL. This is comprehensively dealt with in the first section of the report.

Drawing on field-work in Europe and interviews with senior European defence league members, the first section also looks at how the movement has spread and how relationships have developed between the different defence leagues. For ease of reference, the authors have labelled this Europe-wide movement the European Counter-Jihad Movement (ECJM).

The second section of the report is devoted to evaluating a number of the different categories into which analysts have hitherto placed the ECJM, and arguing for the use of a previously ignored categorisation: cultural nationalism. This section will also explain how and why the ECJM can justifiably be referred to as “far-right”, even as it claims to fight for liberal enlightenment values and many of its core concerns overlap with those of mainstream political parties.

The third and fourth sections of the report look at how the movement is driven by a set of beliefs concerning a threat posed by the presence of the Islamic faith in European countries. Despite their irrationality, these beliefs have begun to coalesce into an identifiable “Islamisation ideology”, which holds that the current terrorist threat from extremist Islamists is not a modern political phenomenon but merely the latest manifestation of a centuries-long and ongoing effort by Muslims to conquer Western civilisation. Understanding this new ideology and its power to mobilise is especially urgent in the wake of Anders Behring Breivik’s August 2012 conviction in Norway for terrorism and premeditated murder, which found that his crimes were motivated by this very ideology and not brought on by mental illness. This report will therefore provide an in-depth analysis of the Islamisation ideology, its history and how Europeans have been mobilised in its cause....

March 13, 2013
Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre

Abstract:

Fearful of the fallout from the rise of Islamism, global jihad and chemical weapons, Israel and Jordan have adopted a policy of containment and damage limitation towards Syria’s two-year civil war, leaving the warring parties to spar with and weaken each other. The two countries have expressed hopes for the demise of the Assad regime, but unlike Syria’s other neighbours – Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq – they have stopped short of allowing the rebels to open conduits through their territories. Unlike Syria’s other crossings, official border crossings into Jordan have remained either closed or in government hands. The Syrian uprising began in the south, in Dara’a on Jordan’s borders, but bereft of supply lines to sustain itself, it quickly moved north, closer to borders where the rebels were better able to procure the fuel, arms, and men required to take and hold territory. However, Israel’s and Jordan’s hands-off posture could be changing. Israel has reportedly bombed a consignment of Syrian arms apparently bound for Lebanon. And such is Jordan’s need to replenish its depleted coffers and so great its fear of popular discontent that in return for increased financial aid it is increasingly bowing to Saudi pressure to open its borders to rebel supplies, bolstering the performance of rebel forces in the south after a series of setbacks. Jordan hopes that Western reinforcements along its northern border will protect it against the chances of blowback. But the risks are manifold. Unlike Iraq’s conflict, from which Jordan was cushioned by 700 kilometres of desert, the war in Syria rages on Jordan’s populous northern border. Already 300,000 refugees have spilled into the kingdom, and both Jordan and Israel fear the conflict could increasingly travel with them....

March 7, 2013
Centre for International and Strategic Analysis

Abstract:

The importance of education in a society cannot be disowned. A well-established education system is an important constituent of a civilized nation and society. Its importance is well evident in developed countries as it plays a major role in personal and social development. As an alternate track to Western style of education, religious seminaries – madaaris1 and religious education have played a vital role in the history of Islam to fulfil the education needs of Islamic society. Despite the madaaris constituting an indigenous system of education in Pakistan, the madrassa sector of the country has been at the center of debates on extremism and radicalization of society since Pakistan joined the US-led war on terror after 9/11. The madaaris are perceived as a crucial medium for promoting extreme religious, sectarian, social and political views which lead towards militancy. Meanwhile it has been highlighted time and again that there is a need to reform the madaaris to transform the radical ideologies with real Islamic moderate values, and provide an applied-education mode where madaaris students become useful members of the society....

March 4, 2013
Human Rights Watch

Abstract:

The 107-page report documents the government’s failure to confront militant groups whose thuggish harassment and assaults on houses of worship and members of religious minorities has become increasingly aggressive. Those targeted include Ahmadiyahs, Christians, and Shia Muslims. Indonesian monitoring groups have noted a steady increase in such attacks, one group finding 264 violent incidents over the past year.

February 26, 2013
International Crisis Group

Abstract:

The Bosniak community is deeply frustrated with the dysfunctional government, flawed constitution and economic stagnation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), as well as renewed Croat and Serb challenges to the state’s territorial integrity. The Islamic community has taken a leading role in channelling popular anger, filling a vacuum left by Bosniak political parties, whose leadership seems adrift. Political Islam is a novelty in Bosnia, and its rise is seen as threatening to secular parties and non-Muslims. On the margins of society, a plethora of non-traditional Salafi and other Islamist groups have appeared, raising fears of terrorism. They are small, divided and largely non-violent, however, and the state and the Islamic community should work to integrate them further into society. Real instability and violence are more likely to come from clashing nationalisms. The Islamic community’s best contribution would be to help craft a vision for Bosnia that Croats and Serbs can share.

The Islamic community (Islamska zajednica, IZ) in BiH has is a religious organisation as well as an important political actor that has shaped Bosniaks’ national identity, though it has recently become more divided and disorganised. Its still influential and charismatic former leader, Mustafa ef. Cerić, ensured that Islam became a strong element in the post-war Bosniak nationalism of which he was a main author and promoter. He likewise linked the Bosniak cause to BiH, which, though also multi-ethnic, he argued, should be a nation-state for the Bosniaks, since Croats and Serbs already had countries of their own....

March 21, 2013
Conflict and Health

Abstract:

Background
Nepal is one of the post-conflict countries affected by violence from explosive devices. We undertook this study to assess the magnitude of injuries due to intentional explosions in Nepal during 2008-2011 and to describe time trends and epidemiologic patterns for these events.

Methods
We analyzed surveillance data on fatal and non-fatal injuries due to intentional explosions in Nepal that occurred between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2011. The case definition included casualties injured or killed by explosive devices knowingly activated by an individual or a group of individuals with the intent to harm, hurt or terrorize. Data were collected through media-based and active community-based surveillance.

Results
Analysis included 437 casualties injured or killed in 131 intentional explosion incidents. A decrease in the number of incidents and casualties between January 2008 and June 2009 was followed by a pronounced increase between July 2010 and June 2011. Eighty-four (19.2%) casualties were among females and 40 (9.2%) were among children under 18 years of age. Fifty-nine (45.3%) incidents involved one casualty, 47 (35.9%) involved 2 to 4 casualties, and 6 involved more than 10 casualties. The overall case-fatality ratio was 7.8%. The highest numbers of incidents occurred in streets or at crossroads, in victims' homes, and in shops or markets. Incidents on buses and near stadiums claimed the highest numbers of casualties per incident. Socket, sutali, and pressure cooker bombs caused the highest numbers of incidents.

Conclusions
Intentional explosion incidents still pose a threat to the civilian population of Nepal. Most incidents are caused by small homemade explosive devices and occur in public places, and males aged 20 to 39 account for a plurality of casualties. Stakeholders addressing the explosive device problem in Nepal should continue to use surveillance data to plan interventions....

March 20, 2013
Amnesty International

Abstract:

Reckless and illegal arms supplies from Europe, Africa and China to the warring parties in Côte d'Ivoire over the past decade continue to fuel grave human rights abuses and violent crime in the country, Amnesty International said in a detailed report launched at the United Nations (UN) headquarters.

This report documents how a handful of states and a network of multinational arms traffickers supplied weapons and munitions to both sides in the conflict who committed war crimes and a range of human rights abuses including horrific violence against women and girls. The arms transfers took place both before and after the UN Security Council imposed an arms embargo on the country in November 2004....

March 18, 2013
Small Arms Survey

Abstract:

Accessories for small arms and light weapons have become increasingly sophisticated, making weapons more lethal and more versatile. Their trade, both in civilian and military markets, is often not given the degree of attention paid to the weapons themselves.

Accessories for Small Arms and Light Weapons, a new Research Note from the Small Arms Survey, defines accessories, explores their usage on the modern battlefield, and assesses the international trade in these items. The research note focuses on five subsets of accessories:

weapons sights, night vision devices, aiming lasers, laser rangefinders, and fire-control systems.

The Survey estimates the annual international trade in such items to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. But data on international transfers of accessories is sparse: reporting requirements are quite limited, national reporting is vague or non-existent, and little is known about the illicit acquisition and use of accessories by armed groups and criminals.

This Research Note summarizes existing data on small arms accessories and highlights the gaps in this data....

March 12, 2013
Oxfam // Saferworld

Abstract:

Arms and bullets continue to destroy lives. Every continent in the world is marred by devastation caused by armed violence. Yet there is still no effective international regulation of the global arms trade.

The need for an Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), which will create globally binding regulation of the international trade in conventional weapons for the first time, is greater than ever. Negotiators at the second and final Diplomatic Conference in March 2013 must deliver a treaty text that holds countries to the highest standards.

History shows that the most effective treaties are born from strong, comprehensive standards, established from the very outset. Treaties with weak provisions – no matter how broad their support – rarely become stronger over time. Even where important countries do not sign them, strong treaties have a positive influence on the actions of non-signatories. But some countries are prioritizing universal agreement on the text, and are willing to accept a draft treaty riddled with loopholes. If the ATT is really to make a difference in transforming the global arms trade, the second and final Diplomatic Conference must produce a treaty text that holds countries to the highest standards.

This paper highlights the missing pieces that must be in the treaty text, if it is to save lives and protect people....

March 7, 2013
Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre // Nordic Africa Institute // Australian Government

Abstract:

The 'Arab Spring' that greeted North Africa and resulted in the fall of the Gaddafi regime has brought in its wake consequences that transcend national boundaries. One region in Africa that is grappling with the post-Gaddafi repercussions is the Sahel, which also faces enormous challenges relating to environment, food insecurity, terrorism and Islamic radicalization, among many others. Besides the core Sahelian states, namely Mali, Niger and Mauritania, many others such as Nigeria, Algeria, Burkina Faso, chad and the Central African Republic and the Darfur region of Sudan continue to face the multiple socioeconomic and security repercussions of the "Arab Spring". Returnee migrants, Tuareg mercenaries and the flow of arms from Gaddafi's weapon caches have contributed to the deteriorating security situation in Mali and the wider Sahelian states. Against this background, the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre and the Nordic Africa Institute, Sweden, in collaboration with the Australian Government, organised a two-day Experts' Workshop on Exploring the Post-Gaddafi Repercussions in the Sahel aimed at addressing the emerging security challenges....

March 21, 2013
Strategic Studies Institute

Abstract:

The premise of most Western thinking on counterinsurgency is that success depends on establishing a perception of legitimacy among local populations. The path to legitimacy is often seen as the improvement of governance in the form of effective and efficient administration of government and public services. However, good governance is not the only possible basis for claims to legitimacy. The author considers whether, in insurgencies where ethno-religious identities are salient, claims to legitimacy may rest more on the identity of who governs, rather than on how whoever governs governs. This monograph presents an analytic framework for examining these issues and then applies that framework to two detailed local case studies of American counterinsurgency operations in Iraq: Ramadi from 2004-05; and Tal Afar from 2005-06. These case studies are based on primary research, including dozens of interviews with participants and eyewitnesses. The cases yield ample evidence that ethno-religious identity politics do shape counterinsurgency outcomes in important ways, and also offer qualified support for the argument that addressing identity politics may be more critical than good governance to counterinsurgent success. Key policy implications include the importance of making strategy development as sensitive as possible to the dynamics of identity politics, and to local variations and complexity in causal relationships among popular loyalties, grievances, and political violence....

March 21, 2013
Conflict and Health

Abstract:

Background
Nepal is one of the post-conflict countries affected by violence from explosive devices. We undertook this study to assess the magnitude of injuries due to intentional explosions in Nepal during 2008-2011 and to describe time trends and epidemiologic patterns for these events.

Methods
We analyzed surveillance data on fatal and non-fatal injuries due to intentional explosions in Nepal that occurred between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2011. The case definition included casualties injured or killed by explosive devices knowingly activated by an individual or a group of individuals with the intent to harm, hurt or terrorize. Data were collected through media-based and active community-based surveillance.

Results
Analysis included 437 casualties injured or killed in 131 intentional explosion incidents. A decrease in the number of incidents and casualties between January 2008 and June 2009 was followed by a pronounced increase between July 2010 and June 2011. Eighty-four (19.2%) casualties were among females and 40 (9.2%) were among children under 18 years of age. Fifty-nine (45.3%) incidents involved one casualty, 47 (35.9%) involved 2 to 4 casualties, and 6 involved more than 10 casualties. The overall case-fatality ratio was 7.8%. The highest numbers of incidents occurred in streets or at crossroads, in victims' homes, and in shops or markets. Incidents on buses and near stadiums claimed the highest numbers of casualties per incident. Socket, sutali, and pressure cooker bombs caused the highest numbers of incidents.

Conclusions
Intentional explosion incidents still pose a threat to the civilian population of Nepal. Most incidents are caused by small homemade explosive devices and occur in public places, and males aged 20 to 39 account for a plurality of casualties. Stakeholders addressing the explosive device problem in Nepal should continue to use surveillance data to plan interventions....

March 21, 2013
Institute for Security Studies

Abstract:

While the planning process for the deployment of the African-led international support mission to Mali (AFISMA) was laboriously under way, events followed in rapid succession when the armed groups occupying the northern part of the country seized the town of Konna on 10 January 2013. This offensive triggered the French military `Operation Serval` and the arrival of AFISMA troops, including in Bamako, in support to the Malian army. In light of the new situation introduced by the military intervention, this report aims at analyzing the changing political and security dynamics while assessing the prospects for the management of the profound crisis of governance that contributed to taking Mali to the edge of the abyss....

March 21, 2013
Institute for Security Studies

Abstract:

Western governments focus heavily on the presence of Islamist extremists in the Sahel and have provided technical assistance in an attempt to strengthen the capacity of the security sectors and justice systems in the countries of the region to hold them back. But the preoccupation with West Africa’s war on terror has meant that the destabilising impact of organised crime has been consistently underestimated, if not ignored altogether. As rebuilding begins in Mali, all signs point to the same oversight happening again. Organised crime is not the primary driver of the current conflict in Mali, but any effort to stabilise or resolve this conflict should explicitly take the presence of organised crime, illicit resource flows and criminal networks into account....

March 20, 2013
Australian Strategic Policy Institute // S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies

Abstract:

The issue of terrorist motivations and pathways towards violent extremism has been the subject of numerous studies in recent years. Much of that work, however, has focused on open source literature. Less attention has been given to understanding the individuals themselves and their personal experiences within terrorist organisations.

To help address this gap, ASPI and the Centre of Excellence for National Security, a constituent research unit of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore, undertook a joint research project to conduct personal interviews with members of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist organisation who are serving or have served prison sentences in Indonesia. The project was directed by Carl Ungerer....

March 15, 2013
Amnesty International

Abstract:

Civilians continue to be at the receiving end of increasingly frequent indiscriminate attacks by Syrian government forces. Imprecise weapons designed for the battlefield are killing, maiming and displacing growing numbers of civilians – many of them children. Unguided air-delivered bombs, artillery, rockets, and ballistic missiles which cannot be aimed at specific targets and do not distinguish between military targets and civilian objects, and internationally banned cluster munitions are being used daily against civilian residential areas in towns and villages, in utter disregard for the most fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.

Government forces also continue to commit other grave violations, including war crimes, notably they frequently arbitrarily detain, torture, disappear and extrajudicially execute men and boys suspected of support for armed opposition groups fighting the state or of support for political opposition to the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

In a recent two-week investigation in northern Syria Amnesty International visited 17 towns and villages in the Idlib, Jabal al-Zawiya and Jisr al-Shughour areas and Aleppo city, and carried out field investigations into indiscriminate attacks which killed more than 310 civilians (including more than 157 children and 52 women) and injured hundreds of others. The organization’s findings show that the frequency and scale of such attacks – which constitute war crimes - has increased in recent months, with disastrous consequences for the civilian population....

March 8, 2013
Amnesty International

Abstract:

Since the ascension of Kim Jong Un as the leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) in December 2011, there have been no noticeable improvements in the human rights situation. The North Korean government continues to engage in the systematic violation of almost the entire range of human rights. The establishment of an independent, robust Commission of Inquiry to investigate the grave, systematic and widespread human rights violations in North Korea — including crimes against humanity—is of the utmost need and urgency. As the UN Human Rights Council enters its 22nd session, Amnesty International calls on member states to support a Resolution establishing an independent Commission of Inquiry to investigate these serious human rights violations in North Korea.

The North Korean government has consistently failed to cooperate with UN human rights mechanisms, including UN Treaty Bodies and Special Procedures. Amnesty International, like other international human rights organizations and monitors, is consistently denied access to North Korea.

In order to circumvent the unwillingness of the authorities to allow human rights investigators access, Amnesty International and others have used remote sensing tools to corroborate the information received by them. Satellite imagery has provided telltale signs of serious human rights violations in North Korea, including the use and expansion of notorious political prison camps (kwanliso).

Amnesty International commissioned satellite imagery analysis of the Cho’ma-Bong valley, 70km north-northeast of the North Korean capital, Pyongyang. The analysis demonstrates increased security in the form of controlled access points, raising of guard towers and construction of a perimeter in the vicinity of Kwanliso 14.

Analysis of new satellite images shows the North Korean government is blurring the lines between Kwanliso 14 and the surrounding population....

March 6, 2013
Igarapé Institute

Abstract:

The Responsibility to protect (R2P) was admitted as an international norm in 2005 by 191 heads of government and state. R2P emphasizes that states have the responsibility to protect their populations from four major human rights violations: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

Despite R2P’s wide acceptance, the possibility of use of force raised by it has been a largely controversial aspect, having been questioned since 2005 by a number of emerging countries – including Brazil – due to fear of the concept being misused to fulfill hidden agendas and because it implies a violation to the principle of sovereignty.

At the end of 2011, Brazil launched the idea of “Responsibility while Protecting” (RwP), triggering reflection throughout the international community on the principles, rules and parameters applicable to the use of force, on behalf of all UN Member-states, by military operations aimed at protecting populations from the four R2P crimes.

Many of the elements of the Brazilian proposal stem from International Humanitarian Law and the Just war theory, which partially reduces the strength of the initiative. On the other hand, the fact that RwP is based on existing principles increases the possibility of forging consensus around it within the heated and polarized debate on implementation of R2P.

Some countries support RwP’s contribution for R2P, others reject it and a third group has not yet positioned itself. The Brazilian proposal – and its reception in a number of capitals – shows that, in a world where most countries are only norm-takers, today Brazil can contribute, to some extent, to the complex process of norm-making. In order to effectively consolidate this new role, it is fundamental that the country does not abandon the process it has so wisely started....

February 28, 2013
Human Security Report Project

Abstract:

Human Security Research is a monthly compilation of significant new human security-related research published by academics, university research institutes, think-tanks, international agencies, and NGOs.

In this issue:

NATURAL DISASTERS AND CONFLICT: When Disasters and Conflicts Collide: Improving Links Between Disaster Resilience and Conflict Prevention
SYRIA: Preliminary Statistical Analysis of Documentation of Killings in the Syrian Arab Republic
KENYA: Kenya’s 2013 Elections
COLLECTIVE VIOLENCE: It’s Who You Know: Social Networks, Interpersonal Connections, and Participation in Collective Violence
MEXICO: Drug Violence in Mexico: Data and Analysis Through 2012
TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME: Transnational Organized Crime in West Africa: A Threat Assessment
FAITH COMMUNITIES AND RESILIENCY: Local Faith Communities and the Promotion of Resilience in Humanitarian Situations: A Scoping Study
YEMEN: A Lasting Peace? Yemen's Long Journey to National Reconciliation
DISPLACEMENT: Displacement, Disharmony and Disillusion. Understanding Host-Refugee Tensions in Maban County, South Sudan
MENTAL HEALTH AND CONFLICT: Madness or Sadness? Local Concepts of Mental Illness in Four Conflict-affected African Communities
SRI LANKA: Sri Lanka’s Authoritarian Turn: The Need for International Action
JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION: Peace, Justice, and Reconciliation in Africa: Opportunities and Challenges in the Fight Against Impunity...

February 20, 2013
Peace Policy

Abstract:

Genocide has long been seen as the “crime of crimes” in media and policy circles. Since international law requires its prevention, it is likely that genocide will continue to demand sustained attention.

We know a great deal about the general social and political conditions that lead to genocide, but still face challenges in identifying genocidal practices during periods of mass violence like civil war. The 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (UNCG) established a standard of proof appropriate for prosecutions of individuals. However, current legal standards used to identify genocide as it is happening hinder policymakers from identifying and stopping the complex dynamics that lead to organized mass killing.

The UNCG defines genocide as a variety of violent acts “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical [sic], racial or religious group, as such.” Intentional group destruction sets genocide apart from war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other mass atrocities, which are assessed according to perpetrator behavior, rather than intent. Intentional destruction – that is, the purposeful destruction of a group, rather than its violent repression – is notoriously difficult to ascertain....